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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25442035">Sleepover Dad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittandchips/pseuds/kittandchips'>kittandchips</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Force Bond [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Droids, Gen, Parent Darth Vader, Popcorn, Sleepovers, Teen Luke Skywalker, blasters, dad!Vader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:49:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>38,838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25442035</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittandchips/pseuds/kittandchips</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Vader raises a teen Luke on Coruscant. After a young celebrity is kidnapped, Vader worries Luke may be next. Meanwhile, a shooting contest causes a friendship crisis for Luke, and this is going to take Skywalker levels of parenting to resolve.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luke Skywalker &amp; Darth Vader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Force Bond [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>393</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this one is more on the lighter side of Force Bond, more humor, less angst. A few readers over the years have let me know they enjoy Luke's friend Ben and his father, and his classmate Ophelia, who may have more of a heart than she likes to admit. They both get some time to shine in this one. Vader also gets to be a more confident parent as his skills are put to the test. Long time readers of this series will spot a few side characters and objects making appearances from other interlude fics, plus finally the story of Luke's biology project mentioned in FB4.</p><p>There are seven chapters in total and I'll update weekly. It's also on fanfiction.net if you prefer to read there (I'm kittandchips there as well).</p><p>Shout out to Deja Know I Been Lookin For Vu. She knows why ;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Years of experience on the battlefield had left Darth Vader with a very specialized skill when it came to blaster fire. As he stepped out of the elevator, into his private hangar bay at the Imperial Palace, a sharp <em>choom-choom</em> noise filled the auditory receptors located at the sides of his mask. His mind instantly identified the make and model of the blaster that made that particular sound. BlasTech Industries, E-11 model. Standard issue for Imperial stormtroopers.</p><p>What his mind didn't answer was why that blaster was being fired on a weekday afternoon in the middle of what should be a highly secure area.</p><p>His senses immediately kicked into fight mode, and his lightsaber was in his hand before he consciously considered it might be needed. Adrenaline flowed as he walked in the direction of the sound, which still filled the air at regular intervals.</p><p>
  <em>Choom-choom. Choom-choom.</em>
</p><p>Now he could see the red glow of the blaster fire, reflecting off the wing of a ship. It was coming from a workroom. Had the guards backed an intruder into the confined space? Was a sniper droid on the loose?</p><p>He was a second away from igniting the lightsaber and lending his own expertise to the dire situation, when he came within view of the doorway, and the reality of the situation was now revealed.</p><p>Instead of some enemy intent on invading the heart of the Imperial government, the source of the blaster fire was in fact a gangly teenage boy, standing with his feet apart and his back to Vader. He was shooting at a target that had been mounted on the far wall and repeatedly missing it by a good thirty centimeters. Beside him stood another teenage boy, this one shorter, but with a more confident stance. He was in the middle of shouting instructions in the direction of his friend.</p><p>"Okay, you're getting there, but your arms are still shaking! Try and relax."</p><p>"I'm trying! But—whoa!"</p><p>The blaster flew out of the boy's hands and sailed through the air into Vader's waiting hand. The two miscreants turned around slowly, their general expressions betraying their guilt.</p><p>"Oh … hi!" Luke said. "I thought your meeting went for another hour."</p><p>Vader stepped into the room, looking up at the wall. There was a still-smoking hole in one place where a shooter had aimed so wide, the shot had even missed the edge of the target board. His gaze lowered to the bench under the target, where a can of highly-flammable paint-stripper sat, without so much as a sheet to cover it.</p><p>Ben was already trying to make a break for it by edging around the side, but Vader pointed at him, using the Force to push him back in front of him.</p><p>"Explain yourselves," he said, in a quiet, dangerous tone. "Quickly."</p><p>Luke raised his hands. "I was just teaching Ben how to shoot straight."</p><p>No further explanation was forthcoming, and Vader had to wonder if Luke honestly thought those words somehow justified everything he had just witnessed.</p><p>"I wasn't aware the stormtrooper corps had begun drafting sixteen-year-olds."</p><p>"It's for the Imperial Palace staff family day," Luke said. "There's a shooting contest and Ben's old enough to enter with his father."</p><p>"So you thought it would be a good idea to practice in a room with flammable chemicals and reflective surfaces?!"</p><p>Luke glanced around, and then said, "Come on, he's not that bad."</p><p>"The wall is still smoking!"</p><p>Ben took a step backwards at his tone, visibly shaking.</p><p>"We tried to use the proper shooting range downstairs, but Lieutenant Hicks said we needed adult supervision," Luke protested. A moment after he said the words, he seemed to realize he wasn't helping his cause.</p><p>Vader was about to demand to know where they had obtained the blaster, when a warning alarm began blaring in the main hangar. Vader turned and walked around the shuttle to investigate, wondering if the boys had somehow managed to cause another disaster, completely separate from the one he was currently attempting to deal with.</p><p>His quest led him to Artoo Detoo, who was releasing a smoke stream directly under a smoke alarm. A second later, he realized he'd been purposely distracted, and turned back to find the boys disappearing into the service elevator. He started to reach out a hand to hold the doors, but it was too late.</p><p>"Droid!"</p><p>Artoo whistled in an overly innocent way.</p><p>He then heard the muffled sounds of Threepio calling for help, and Artoo rolled over to release him from the closet where he'd somehow become trapped.</p><p>"I tried to discourage them, sir, I really did," Threepio insisted, servos clicking as he walked out. "But you know how determined Master Luke gets when he wants to help his friends!"</p><p>Artoo beeped in agreement.</p><p>"You could have stopped them," Vader said, pointing at Artoo.</p><p><em>I only just got here!</em> Artoo protested. <em>I was repairing Luke's HoloNet projector in his bedroom!</em></p><p>Vader was about to suggest he go and unrepair the HoloNet projector, as Luke would not be using it for some time, when a stormtrooper ran out of a nearby elevator, radiating panic. A weary breath passed through the respirator as the man looked around desperately, before catching sight of the resident Sith Lord. This resulted in a hasty attempt at reversing backwards into the elevator.</p><p>"Come here, trooper!" Vader said, feeling his frustration increase.</p><p>The trooper hesitated, and then began to run towards him, before slowing to a more respectful walk as he approached. He was clearly trembling in his armor.</p><p>"Is this yours?" Vader enquired, holding up the blaster by the middle of its barrel.</p><p>"I'm sorry, sir! I ... I …"</p><p>"I said, is this yours?"</p><p>"Yes, sir! I mean … yes, my lord. I'm so sorry! I—"</p><p>"Spare me your pitiful apologies," Vader said, pushing the blaster into the trooper's chest. He quickly reached up to take it. "Never let this out of your sight again. It is fortunate I intervened or the entire hangar could have been destroyed."</p><p>"Oh, dear," Threepio said.</p><p>Artoo made a derisive whistle.</p><hr/><p>"I swear, Luke, one of these days, he's going to give me a heart attack."</p><p>"I've seen him a lot angrier," Luke said, leaning out of the elevator and looking left and right before stepping out. "Come on."</p><p>"It's like there's a cloud of fear and intimidation just wafting out of him and filling whatever room he's in."</p><p>Luke smirked. "Yeah, I think that's the center switch on his respirator controls."</p><p>"You can tell he's barely managing to hold himself back from unleashing all his Sith Lord powers and—" Ben broke off. "Where are we going?"</p><p>"This is the secret way out I discovered," Luke said, opening a service hatch along the wall beside the elevator. This was the lowest of the basement hangar bays, where the stormtrooper squads assigned to the palace kept their troop transports, but they didn't have a lot of need for them in recent years. "It's a long walk but it eventually comes out into a lower level service tunnel. From there, you can catch an elevator back to the top." Luke crawled into the hatch, and after a moment, Ben followed him.</p><p>Twenty meters along the tunnel, Luke opened another hidden floor hatch, and slid down a long ladder. It dropped him in a corridor with walls that had once been black and shiny, but were now faded and dull with time. He took the multi-tool off his belt, and shone the flashlight back up the ladder as Ben climbed down to join him.</p><p>"What is this place?!" Ben asked.</p><p>Luke shrugged. "Part of the Jedi Temple back in the day. Built over now. But look at this." He led Ben further down the corridor, stepping over a few cracked floor tiles, and then revealed a wall panel sitting slightly open. "I left a brick here so I could find it again."</p><p>"A secret door?!" Ben said, looking at all the internal wiring along the exposed edge. "How did you open it?"</p><p>Luke shrugged. "The last person to use it left it unlocked."</p><p>That wasn't entirely true. It had actually taken him many hours and multiple attempts to get to this point, and he suspected the Force had been involved in the end, although he didn't want to acknowledge it. He put the flashlight in his mouth as he used both hands to open the door wider.</p><p>"After you," he said, words distorted by the obstruction between his teeth.</p><p>Ben tentatively stepped forward, climbing down to the rocky tunnel. He made it two steps, and then reared back at the sound of rodents squeaking.</p><p>"Luke!"</p><p>"I know, it's a little scary," Luke said, jumping down beside Ben with the flashlight in his hand now. "But there's only a few, and once you get past them, it's fine."</p><p>Ben gave Luke a look, and then turned around. "No way. I've heard about those giant lower-level mutant rats. I don't care if your father has stationed stormtroopers at every exit and ordered them to take us to the detention center … we're not getting out this way."</p><p>"Okay, okay," Luke said. "He's probably forgotten about us and gone to the military headquarters now anyway."</p><p>"We'll go out the staff exit near the guard office," Ben said, looking up at the ceiling. "I know the guards there. It should be fine."</p><p>"Otherwise, we can just hide out in the security office," Luke said, checking the time on his wrist comlink. "Lieutenant Hicks always has good snacks."</p><p>The thought of security office snacks kept Luke energized during the climb back to the top and the crawl towards the basement hangar. From here, they took the stairs up to the level where the palace staff had their offices and approached the exit slowly, keeping an eye out for any stormtroopers. When they went past the security office, Luke hesitated, and then said, "Can we just check if he has some Choco Pebbles today?"</p><p>"Yeah, why not," Ben said, pressing the door release.</p><p>As soon as they stepped inside, they realized coming here was a big mistake. There was a tense conversation going on between Lieutenant Hicks, Lev and a fully uniformed royal guard. Even without the Force, Luke would have known this was Ben's father based purely on his body language, but Ben didn't catch on until he removed his helmet. His expression was enough to cause the two of them to make a hasty reverse, but Lieutenant Hicks pressed the controls on his desk to lock the office doors.</p><p>"Ben. Jarnet." He stepped forward, pointing at him with his force pike. "Please, by all that is good in this galaxy, tell me you didn't steal a stormtrooper's blaster and fire it in a meeting room!"</p><p>Ben raised his hands. "Calm down!"</p><p>"It wasn't a meeting room!" Luke protested. "It was a workroom in a ship hangar! And we just <em>borrowed</em> the blaster."</p><p>Lev sighed, taking a seat on the swivel chair in front of Lieutenant Hicks' desk. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" he said, raising an eyebrow in Luke's direction.</p><p>"We didn't damage anything," Luke insisted. "Well … there was a slight mark in the wall, but I'll fix it."</p><p>"You've damaged RQ-573," Lieutenant Hicks said. "He's sitting in the break room right now, shaking. It's his first week on the job and he had to go and retrieve his blaster from Lord Vader."</p><p>Luke sighed, feeling a rush of guilt. "I didn't think he'd notice it was gone until we brought it back."</p><p>"I don't <em>believe</em> this," Captain Jarnet said, shaking his head at Ben.</p><p>"I'm sorry!" Ben said. "Please, I've already been terrorised by Luke's dad!"</p><p>Lieutenant Hicks smirked. "Luke's dad?"</p><p>"First he took the blaster away using the Force, and then I tried to run away and he just waved a hand at me and I couldn't move!" Ben said.</p><p>"Luke's <em>dad</em>?" Lieutenant Hicks repeated. He shared a smile with Lev, and then looked back at Ben. "I don't think I've ever heard the supreme commander of the Imperial armed forces reduced to merely being <em>Luke's dad</em>."</p><p>"Reduced?" Captain Jarnet said, turning back to the officers. "Merely? Do you have any idea what it's like trying to raise a teenager? I'm sure he considers the Empire the smaller of his two responsibilities."</p><p>"Yes, I'd believe it, in Luke's case," Lev said.</p><p>Luke rolled his eyes.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Ben said, looking down. "I just … I know winning this shooting contest is important to you, and I wanted to practice."</p><p>Captain Jarnet turned back. "Why didn't you wait until I came off shift?" He sounded less angry now. "We could have practiced at the firing range."</p><p>"Wait," Lieutenant Hicks said, raising a finger to point at Captain Jarnet. "You actually think you have a chance of <em>winning</em> the shooting contest?"</p><p>Captain Jarnet nodded. "Sure."</p><p>"Have you <em>seen</em> Commander Julius shoot?"</p><p>"Have you seen me shoot?" Captain Jarnet countered.</p><p>"I've heard the last royal guard to challenge her title ended up crying," Lev said.</p><p>"Yeah, and she never lets anyone live their loss down," Lieutenant Hicks said. "Don't let that calm professional exterior fool you. She has a competitive streak that could break a Mandalorian."</p><p>Ben had been clutching his stomach during this banter, like he was feeling nauseous.</p><p>"It's just a fun day for the friends and family of the staff to tour the palace, right? Luke said. "Who cares who wins?"</p><p>Lieutenant Hicks shook his head. "No, Luke. The coloring-in contest is for fun. The 'design your own Imperial flag' contest is fun. The shooting contest is a deadly serious test of skill among the Empire's finest."</p><p>"So who is she entering with, then?" Luke asked.</p><p>"Normally, it's her husband, and he's been training with her since their first date," Lieutenant Hicks said. "But she mentioned her niece is visiting. She's a star athlete in the junior cadet corps."</p><p>Ben was sweating by now, and it didn't go past Lev.</p><p>"How's your aim, Ben?" he asked.</p><p>"Well …" Ben said. "Uh … to be honest …not that great."</p><p>Lieutenant Hicks and Lev both looked at Captain Jarnet, who raised his hands. "So we've got a bit of work to do. It won't be a problem. All Jarnet men have been natural sharpshooters, going back to the days when they were hunting nerfs on the plains of Kentrasis. Besides … I've seen him win at those holovid games."</p><p>Luke raised an eyebrow. Ben was just about the furthest thing he'd seen from a natural sharpshooter. Even Tank's grandfather, who was only partially sighted in one eye, had better aim. He used to sit outside their Tatooine farm and shoot at womp rats who got too close, and everyone knew not to visit when that was going on.</p><p>Captain Jarnet turned back to face them.</p><p>"Here's what we're going to do. You are both going to go and apologise to that poor stormtrooper. Meanwhile, I will finish my shift and get changed. Then I will meet you at the firing range in thirty minutes. Understood?"</p><p>They both nodded, relieved he seemed to have forgiven them, and then stepped back to allow him to leave the office. Luke sneaked over to grab a handful of Choco Pebbles, before joining Ben in the corridor. He was already shaking his head.</p><p>"This is going to be bad."</p><p>"I'm sure he's fine," Luke said, looking around. If he remembered right, the break room was down the other end, near the storage lockers.</p><p>"Not the stormtrooper," Ben said. "My father. He's going to be devastated when he sees how useless I am."</p><p>"You're not useless," Luke said. "You're just new at this. With a bit more practice, who knows?"</p><p>"This contest is only two weeks away."</p><p>"He should have started you training sooner."</p><p>"He did suggest it a month back, but we had that big test coming up in language studies, and I only have so much time. I didn't realize he was going to take it this seriously."</p><p>"From what Lev and Lieutenant Hicks said, Commander Julius and her amazing niece are going to win easily anyway. So it doesn't matter how good you are."</p><p>"No, it will just mean the end of the glorious line of Jarnet sharpshooters," Ben said.</p><p>"No it won't. How about your cousins? Didn't you say Eli was really good at throwing things?"</p><p>"Eli is three," Ben said, frowning.</p><p>Luke smiled. They had come up on the break room now, and he pushed the door release, leading Ben through into the room filled with long tables. RQ-573 sat in the middle, helmet on the table beside him, and shaking slightly as he studied a mug of hot caf the serving droids had made for him. He didn't seem able to take his eyes off his blaster.</p><p>Luke rubbed the back of his neck, feeling even more guilty. He approached slowly, not wanting to startle the man. "Hi there."</p><p>The trooper looked up, and Luke realized he was only a few years older than he and Ben.</p><p>"Um …" He glanced back to make sure Ben was beside him, and then met the man's gaze. "I'm really sorry we borrowed your blaster without asking you. That was a stupid thing to do."</p><p>"Really stupid," Ben agreed.</p><p>"It was just … Ben needs to get better at shooting, really fast, because his father wants to win the shooting contest at the palace family day, and it was one of those 'seemed like a good idea at the time' moments," Luke explained.</p><p>"If it helps any, Luke's dad terrorised us, too," Ben added.</p><p>The trooper looked between them for a moment, looking bewildered. Luke wondered if he was still in a state of shock, but then he spoke.</p><p>"You are Lord Vader's son?" he asked, hesitantly.</p><p>Luke nodded. "Luke. This is my friend, Ben."</p><p>He looked from Ben's face back to Luke, and then said, "And <em>you</em> are apologising to <em>me</em>?"</p><p>"Of course," Luke said, wondering why he sounded so confused. "Sorry if my father was mean to you. He gets really moody sometimes."</p><p>"Understatement," Ben said.</p><p>"If your blaster ever goes missing again, just call me," Luke said. "I'll help you find it."</p><p>"Uh … thanks," the trooper said. He looked around. "How did you even know where to find me?"</p><p>"Lieutenant Hicks told me," Luke said. "I'm down here all the time." He smiled. "The best people in the palace are based on this floor. So what's your name?"</p><p>"RQ-573."</p><p>"No, your <em>name</em>," Luke said.</p><p>He paused for a little too long, and then said, "Robi."</p><p>"See you 'round, Robi," Luke said, giving him a wave.</p><p>When they were both back in the corridor, Luke shrugged. "Well, he didn't seem mad at all."</p><p>"Luke," Ben sighed.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Never mind. Maybe you can give me a few more pointers before my dad gets off shift."</p><hr/><p>Over the next three days, Ben was subjected to a crash course in shooting in the royal guard firing range, with Captain Jarnet supervising and providing constant suggestions for improvement. Luke had to hand it to him, though. Never once did he raise his voice, even though his growing frustration was obvious. Luke was more concerned for his friend's mental state, as Ben seemed to be getting worse, especially when other royal guards would come by and watch.</p><p>"Don't worry," one of them said, looking sympathetically at Ben's father. "I was pretty bad at sixteen as well."</p><p>"Ben is <em>fine</em>," Captain Jarnet said. "Aren't you supposed to be reviewing those incident reports?"</p><p>The other royal guard raised his hands and quickly left the room. Luke glanced up from the political studies assignment he was working on, and saw Ben had his face screwed up in concentration, desperately trying to get closer to the center ring on the stationary target board. He was clearly completely over this, and Luke knew a big argument was going to happen sooner or later, and he hoped it wouldn't be when he was around. But for some reason, his father had cut off his room HoloNet access, and Ben had asked him to be here for moral support.</p><p>"Arg!" Ben shouted. He'd hit the outer ring again. He tossed the blaster down, swearing in frustration.</p><p>"Never throw a blaster!" Captain Jarnet said. "And wash your mouth out. Where did you even learn that?"</p><p>Luke waved his hands in a 'no' gesture, but Ben wasn't even looking at him.</p><p>"It's only a training blaster," Ben said, kicking the box it had fallen on.</p><p>"Doesn't matter. Learning good safety habits is vital. And don't give up just because it's harder than you thought!"</p><p>"I never thought this was going to be easy," Ben said, slumping down on the bench. "I need a break."</p><p>Captain Jarnet sighed. "Fine. Luke, why don't you have a go?"</p><p>"Me?" Luke looked up. "Why?"</p><p>"Because it might help Ben to see that he doesn't need to compare himself to my skills. Seeing another amateur will be helpful."</p><p>"Luke. An <em>amateur</em>," Ben said, rolling his eyes.</p><p>"You've had training?" Captain Jarnet asked, as Luke went to pick up the training blaster.</p><p>"No, but I learned to shoot when I was a kid, growing up on a farm. You had to, there. It was that kind of place."</p><p>Luke glanced over the computer, and then selected the moving target program, first skill level. A large countdown appeared on the various screens, and then the holographic targets began to pop up and move around the large space in front of him.</p><p>The blaster itself only fired low energy bolts, which dissipated when they connected with a hologram. Luke missed the first few targets, and then began to get a feel for this small weapon, and soon he was wracking up his score. He ended with a bonus for his accuracy rate and found himself pressing the button to start the level 2 moving target practice.</p><p>After hitting 10 targets in 8 seconds, Ben's father came to stand behind him.</p><p>"Wow," he remarked. "You're good."</p><p>Luke raised the blaster to hit a circle falling from the ceiling. The bonus light lit up as he hit the glowing bullseye in the center of it.</p><p>"Really good," Captain Jarnet corrected.</p><p>Luke barely heard him. He was getting into the zone now, feeling the rush of excitement that came with succeeding at a skill he hadn't had a chance to practice in a long time. The simulations were all five minutes long, but it felt like only half a minute later when all the lights lit up and a sound played to indicate Luke had made the top ten list.</p><p>"Woo!" Luke said, putting the blaster down so he could enter his name. "This is actually fun!"</p><p>"Here's an idea," Ben said, gesturing from his father to Luke. "Why don't you enter this contest with Luke? There's nothing in the rules to say your partner has to be related to you. It's <em>friends</em> and family day."</p><p>Captain Jarnet looked from Ben to Luke like he was actually considering this, and Luke hastily raised his hands. "I don't want to enter."</p><p>"I would rather you didn't just quit because it's hard," Captain Jarnet said, pointing at Ben. "With a bit of practice, you could shoot like Luke too."</p><p>Ben looked dejected. "Sure," he said, sarcastically.</p><p>"There's no need to get moody."</p><p>"I'm not moody!"</p><p>At that moment, the doors to the firing range opened, and Luke silently thanked the Force for the interruption. But he changed his mind when he saw who it was.</p><p>"Well, well, well," Commander Julius said, striding towards them. "So. It's true. Captain Jarnet and Junior actually think they can challenge the palace shooting queen."</p><p>Captain Jarnet folded his arms. "I haven't yet decided if I have the time to enter."</p><p>"Yeah, wouldn't want to waste your time with mere amateurs, right?" Commander Julius said, leaning against the wall. "Did you hear my niece is joining me this year? Three time shooting champion at the junior cadet sector contest."</p><p>"I can't believe how seriously you take the palace staff open day shooting contest," Luke said, smirking at her.</p><p>"Oh, innocent, young Cupcake," Commander Julius said. "You don't know how many years I had to endure the parade of arrogant royal guards insisting they were the greatest shooters in the galaxy. When I first started working here, they wouldn't allow anyone who wasn't a guard to enter their little shooting contest. The rest of us were considered <em>unworthy</em>."</p><p>Luke looked up at Captain Jarnet in surprise. "Is that true?"</p><p>"They may have had some restrictive entry requirements in past years," Captain Jarnet admitted, looking aside.</p><p>"And as soon as I lose this contest, they'll tighten up those rules again," she continued. "Just so they don't have to suffer the <em>humiliation</em> of losing to a mere security division commander. So no, this isn't just about my ego—which I admit, can be a little inflated when it comes to my shooting—that's what comes from years of seeing royal guards try and <em>fail</em>." She winked at Captain Jarnet on her way out the door. "You think carefully about whether you have the time, Captain."</p><p>As soon as the door closed, Captain Jarnet raised both fists in the air, releasing the same word he'd admonished Ben for using earlier.</p><p>"Dad," Ben said. "Seriously. Enter with Luke. It's the only chance you'll have."</p><p>"I don't actually think you'd have a chance even with me," Luke said. "She's using psychological warfare."</p><p>Captain Jarnet gave him a look like he was about to completely lose it, and Luke hastily raised his hands in defeat. "Okay. As long as Ben's okay with it, I can give it a try."</p><p>"Of course I'm okay with it," Ben said, rolling his eyes.</p><p>"Fine. Luke … do you have time to practice tomorrow?"</p><p>It was the weekend tomorrow. His father had left Coruscant that morning, chasing after some anti-Empire group called the 'Liberator Army' who had been leaving graffiti with their name and logo all over the lower levels. Their base was reportedly in the middle of the Icarthi asteroid belt. He hadn't mentioned being back in time to leave for Mustafar.</p><p>"Uh … sure. Just let me know when."</p><p>"Thank you. I'll bring some Choco Pebbles."</p><p>Luke glanced at Ben again, seeing his friend was still looking dejected.</p><p>"Ben prefers Nebula Twisters," Luke said. "Could you bring those?"</p><p>"Whatever you want," Captain Jarnet said. "We're going to have to practice every day."</p><p>Luke glanced back at his homework, but found himself nodding. At least this stupid contest was only two weeks away.</p><hr/><p>Ben didn't even come to the training session the following morning, which worried Luke at first, until Captain Jarnet said he'd needed to catch up on study and was enjoying having the apartment to himself. They'd booked an hour's timeslot in the firing range, but soon, Luke was having so much fun working his way through the moving target simulations, they went over their booked session time. Another guard had booked for the hour after them, but he was happy just to watch for ten minutes while Luke and Captain Jarnet competed against each other on the level 3 simulation.</p><p>"I'll need to find another firing range, one where we won't be disturbed," Captain Jarnet said, as they walked out of the guard training area. "I don't want Commander Julius finding out you're my shooting partner, or she'll try and get you disqualified somehow."</p><p>"Won't she find out when you fill in the entry form?"</p><p>"I'll do that last minute. You can still enter up to an hour before the contest opens."</p><p>He paused to smile at Luke before walking through into his office.</p><p>"Thanks for doing this. You really have an amazing talent."</p><p>"No problem," Luke said, walking on. He paused on the stairs up to the main floor of the palace, wondering if he should send Ben a message and ask if he wanted to go cruising around the city this afternoon, or play some hologames. It felt a little weird to hang out with his father without him.</p><p>But when he finally did send the message, he only received a short reply back, saying he was busy working on an assignment. This comlink silence continued the following day, until Ben's father called to say he'd found a new firing range over the other side of Imperial City, and would pick him up after lunch.</p><p>It was aimed at security professionals, and Luke felt self-conscious when the droid at the reception wanted to see his ID. But once they were inside, they were led into a private area that had even more simulations than the room at the Imperial Palace, including various melee weapons and heavy artillery. Luke was soon enjoying himself even more than he expected, and he badgered Captain Jarnet with questions about his royal guard training. He didn't seem to mind this at all, and they were soon involved in a detailed discussion over the relative deadliness of a blaster versus a force pike and different methods of defending against both.</p><p>At one stage, one of the staff wandered past, and she paused to watch Luke shoot.</p><p>"You're a real natural," she said. "I can tell you haven't had any professional training, but your accuracy rate is phenomenal."</p><p>Luke shrugged, smiling shyly. "I grew up on a farm in the middle of a desert. There wasn't a lot to do around there but learn how to shoot properly."</p><p>"Have you ever thought about taking a class?" She looked at Captain Jarnet. "He'd suit the advanced junior class, I think. I'll get you a brochure." She returned after a few minutes with a data projector that showed the full catalogue of courses offered by the facility, including a voucher for a free trial class.</p><p>Captain Jarnet was so enthusiastic about the idea, he was still talking about it on their way back to the speeder.</p><p>"You could find a proper course very helpful, Luke. Or even some one-on-one tutoring."</p><p>"I'd have to tell my father before signing up for anything like that," Luke said. "And judging by his reaction when he caught me with the blaster the other day, I don't think he'd say yes anytime soon."</p><p>Captain Jarnet paused by the speeder, looking at him in surprise. "Stars, I didn't even think about that. Do you think he'd be okay with this?"</p><p>He gestured back into the building.</p><p>"I guess so," Luke said. "He's back tomorrow, so I'll let him know." He smiled then. "He's not exactly a pacifist, so I don't think he'll object to me learning how to use a blaster better."</p><p>"No," Captain Jarnet agreed. "But I should have made sure it was all right before bringing you here. It's easy to forget sometimes. I always try and treat you like any other friend Ben has had over the years because I know that's what you need, but I can't ignore the complexity of the situation."</p><p>Luke felt touched at the words. That was what he needed, but he didn't know Captain Jarnet had put that much thought into it.</p><p>"I appreciate that you treat me that way," Luke said, looking down.</p><p>Captain Jarnet smiled, briefly putting his hand on his shoulder. "Well, the last thing we want is you turning into another Sunny Sy Vesta."</p><p>Sunny Sy Vesta was the seventeen-year-old son of a popular music star and a billionaire cruise ship magnate, and he was also called a word that Luke had never understood the meaning of until he'd lived on Coruscant for a few years. Socialite. He regularly featured on the cover of holo-magazines, and seemed a favorite guest on talk shows, but Luke had never been entirely sure what he actually did to deserve all the attention he got. He seemed famous for being famous.</p><p>Luke's classmate, Ophelia Halifax, had caused a big stir by dating him for three months at the beginning of the year, and their break-up had featured in the Coruscant Enquirer, alongside a story about a giant space squid terrorizing passenger ships along the Argas shipping route.</p><p>"That will never happen," Luke said, shuddering at the idea.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>"Stars, it's later than I thought," Captain Jarnet said, as they flew back into the heart of Imperial City. "How about we pick up Ben and go out for dinner?"</p><p>"That all-you-can-eat buffet place?" Luke suggested. "No, how about that diner out by the industrial district docking bays?"</p><p>"I was thinking somewhere just a little classier, Luke. But let's see what Ben thinks."</p><p>When they arrived at the apartment, all the lights were out and there was no sign of Ben anywhere. Captain Jarnet found a message light on the kitchen holo projector, and when he touched it, it lit up with an image of his son.</p><p>"Hi. I needed to do some research for my political studies assignment so I'm at the library until late. I already had dinner so don't worry about food."</p><p>"Well, let's go tomorrow night," Luke suggested. "Or even next weekend, if I'm not on Mustafar."</p><p>Ben's father seemed distracted for a moment, but then he nodded. "Sure thing, Luke. I'll take you back to the palace."</p><p>"No, honestly, I could really use a walk," Luke said. "I haven't had fresh air all day."</p><p>Calling the air in Imperial City 'fresh' really was a stretch, but it was something. And if he went back to the palace via the mall, he could grab some food there.</p><p>But as soon as he came out of an overpass tunnel and joined the walkway leading to the mall south entrance, he could see his plan might not go as smoothly as he hoped. There were dozens of media droids circling the building, and a heavy stormtrooper presence. As the distance to the mall entrance lessened, the possibility of turning back decreased, and he soon found himself being jostled up against the wall opposite some temporary fencing. He soon escaped to safety up a staircase that led to the landing pad on the level above, and there he found a long line of girls pressed up against the security barrier. Many of them were carrying signs and pictures, and two security droids rolled up and down the line.</p><p>A pair of Nautolans stood nearby, looking bored, and Luke wandered over, thinking they might be a good bet for finding out what was going on.</p><p>"Who are they waiting for?" he asked, gesturing back towards the line of girls.</p><p>"Sunny Sy Vesta," the closest one said, pointing up at a vast floating billboard. "It's a launch event for his new fashion line."</p><p>"Huh." Luke stared up at the images of Sunny in various outfits, bleached hair carefully styled, and wondered who would ever actually want to spend thousands of credits on clothes that could be bought for much less at the bargain stores in the lower levels. Coruscant was a crazy place.</p><p>"Our daughters just wanted to see him," the other Nautolan said, gesturing to the line of girls.</p><p>Luke smiled. "Good luck to them."</p><p>The crowd was so thick, they'd be lucky to see even a tuft of his bright yellow hair.</p><p>He climbed up to another level then, thinking the more distance he put between himself and the landing pad, the more chance he had of actually getting some food without a massive queue. But things were just as bad up here. Even worse, it seemed, as there were no security droids. Luke's eyes widened as he saw two older girls shove a younger one back from the barrier.</p><p>"No, I … that's my spot!" the younger one cried.</p><p>The crowds began to scream, and Luke glanced down, seeing an elongated speeder arrive, accompanied by escort craft.</p><p>"Please!" the younger one said, trying to reclaim her spot. "I just want him to see!"</p><p>She was carrying a large piece of poster flimsi, about a meter long on each side. As she made another fruitless attempt to reclaim her space at the barrier, the older girl grabbed the flimsi out of her hands and threw it into a nearby puddle of engine oil.</p><p>"NO!"</p><p>As the girl dived to save her creation, Luke strode forward, unable to stop himself.</p><p>"What is wrong with you?" he asked, tapping the bully on the shoulder. She glanced back, surprised. "Why be so mean? There's room beside you for her as well."</p><p>The only response was a suggestion that he go away in the rudest possible terms. Luke frowned and went back to help the girl who was now getting her pants covered in oil while she tried to clean the poster.</p><p>"Don't mind those nerfherders," Luke said. "Do you have any easy-off oil stain remover at home? I find that's the best thing for engine oil. It comes in a spray bottle and you could spray this and leave it to dry overnight."</p><p>The girl looked up at him, and then her eyes widened. "Luke?"</p><p>It took Luke a moment to recognise her.</p><p>"Oh, from school, right?" She was in one of the middle year levels, probably around twelve or thirteen, but he wouldn't have a hope of remembering her name, so he said, "I know I should know your name."</p><p>"No, you shouldn't. I'm … no one."</p><p>"No one, huh? I bet you get teased over that name."</p><p>She laughed then. "It's actually Parayla. So you're a fan of Sunny too?"</p><p>"Um …" Would be rude to say his opinion had gone from bewildered indifference to outright annoyance in the last ten minutes? "To be honest … I'm just here to grab some food before heading home."</p><p>Behind them, the crowd began to dissipate, and Parayla slumped. "I just wanted him to see my painting," she said, miserably.</p><p>Luke had another look at the poster and realised it was a hand-painted portrait. "You did this yourself? It's amazing!"</p><p>"I spent weeks on it," she said, reaching up to wipe a smudge of oil from the edge.</p><p>"Let's see if we can dab it off with a few table napkins in the food court," Luke said, guiding her to walk into the mall. "Where is this launch event anyway?"</p><p>"Up on the VIP floor. It's invite only."</p><p>"Hey, I have access to the VIP floor." Lev's team at the palace had wide-ranging access to all the exclusive shopping zones in Imperial City, and they'd linked his ID to the pass. But it wasn't something he usually took advantage of. There were no gaming stores on the exclusive level. "Maybe we could wander up. I could say you're my cousin."</p><p>Parayla had blondish hair not unlike his, but her skin tone was pink with blue spots. But the security guards didn't usually ask questions.</p><p>"Are you serious?!" she said, looking up.</p><p>He shrugged. "It's worth a shot."</p><p>"Okay. Okay. Uh … let me just go to the refresher first! Could you look after this? Oh!" She made a squealing noise and then ran off towards the nearest refresher. Luke was left holding the oily painting, and he quickly turned it around, lest anyone see him holding it and think he was Sunny's biggest fan.</p><p>Parayla spent so long in the refresher, he'd made a fairly good job of cleaning the painting using a stack of napkins from a nearby table, and she beamed when she saw it.</p><p>"It almost looks normal again!"</p><p>"It's not too bad," Luke agreed. He glanced at her, realizing she'd completely re-done her hair. "Are you here with anyone else? You want to tell them where you are?"</p><p>"No, I'm alone. To be honest … " She looked down. "I sort of sneaked out."</p><p>Luke smiled. "Well … I did that a fair bit when I was your age too. Come on."</p><p>She was rocking back and forth with excitement while they waited for an elevator, and was first out when they arrived at the VIP floor. They were greeted by two staff wearing full suits, and as soon as they scanned Luke's ID, the nearest one said, "Welcome, Mr Skywalker. It's a pleasure to have you and your guest join us this evening. Are you attending the Vesta fashion line launch?"</p><p>"I heard it was invite only," Luke said.</p><p>The woman looked from him to Parayla, and then tapped something into her computer.</p><p>"For you," she said, passing him two event passes.</p><p>"Really? Thank you!" Luke said. The staff were so helpful up here. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could get a burger on this floor, would you?"</p><p>She smiled, and then pressed a button to summon a serving droid.</p><p>"BX-775 will act as your personal shopping assistant and bring you any food and beverages you require."</p><p>"Thank you so much," Luke said, handing Parayla the second event pass. She stared around in disbelief as they stepped through the automatic doors into a cavernous foyer filled with chandeliers, couches and displays of luxury goods.</p><p>"I know, right?" Luke said, guessing her thoughts. "It's like a secret fantasy world where the super-rich and powerful hang out."</p><p>"They … they just let you through! They just … gave you event passes!"</p><p>Luke shrugged, not wanting to point out the obvious. Maybe she'd forgotten who his father was. But then she saw all the banners pointing the way to the fashion launch, and Luke had to hold her back to prevent her from running.</p><p>When they saw the back of the gathered crowd, Luke began to think he really wasn't dressed well enough to attend this event, but it didn't matter. No one was looking at him. Sunny was standing on a raised platform in the middle of the sea of people, being congratulated by someone who was using words like 'unbelievably inspirational' and 'a natural entrepreneur'. Parayla had frozen, staring up at him with her mouth slightly open, and Luke guided her to a good viewing spot around the side.</p><p>"I'll be back there," he said, pointing to an adjacent room with couches and fountains.</p><p>She nodded once.</p><p>It was a relief to put down the painting, flop down on a couch and tell the shopping assistant droid to bring him a double combo with extra fries. After all the shooting practice, it had been a long day.</p><p>A man wandered through a few minutes later, after loud music started playing in the main room beyond, and he smiled when he saw Luke.</p><p>"If it isn't young Mr Skywalker!"</p><p>Luke grinned, recognising the chief engineer at Sienar. "Hi, Commander Wray."</p><p>"Big fan of Sunny, are we?" He gestured to the painting as he sat down opposite him.</p><p>"No, no," Luke said, blushing as he turned the painting so it was facing the wall. "Uh … long story. A girl who goes to my school painted this, and she was being bullied down on the landing pads, so I said I'd bring her up here so she could see him. I actually just came here to get a burger on my way back to the palace."</p><p>"Ah. So acting as a knight in a shining zip jacket?"</p><p>Luke smirked, glancing down at his jacket. "Something like that. How about you?"</p><p>"My daughter Erma has holos of this guy all over her room," Commander Wray said. "I was bribed into bringing her tonight."</p><p>They were soon talking about the latest starfighter engineering trends, and in the middle of this, the assistant droid returned with a bag full of the food Luke had requested. He was so involved in the conversation, he didn't even notice Parayla had returned until she sat down beside him.</p><p>"Event over?" he asked, offering her a packet of fries.</p><p>She nodded and handed him the glossy flimsi version of the fashion line promotional book. "I got one of these," she whispered.</p><p>Luke flicked through it, seeing endless images of Sunny wearing the over-priced clothes. "Is he still there? Do you want to show him your painting?"</p><p>She shrugged. "There's a long line and … I don't know, maybe he'll think it's dumb and I'm a crazy obsessed fan."</p><p>Luke stood up and glanced around the doorway, seeing what she meant. There were at least twenty people in line to get his autograph.</p><p>"Maybe it will quiet down in a few minutes," he said. "And don't worry about it … I'm sure he'll love it. He … uh … he looks like the kind of person who would like a painting of himself." He turned the frame back around so it was facing outwards.</p><p>"Remember that time you tried to get an autograph from that holovid star?" Commander Wray said, pointing at Luke. "And your father nearly killed him!"</p><p>Luke frowned. "That was just humiliating."</p><p>Parayla had begun stress-eating the leftovers in the takeout bag, and Luke went off to the nearby refresher to wash his hands. When he returned, he found the autograph line had vanished and he couldn't see Sunny anywhere. Erma, Commander Wray's daughter, had appeared now, and she was busy admiring the painting. Just as Luke came up beside her, Sunny himself came around the doorway, accompanied by an entourage. He mimed having a heart attack when he saw the painting.</p><p>"Wow! Look at this!" He smiled at Luke. "Is this your work, buddy?"</p><p>"No," Luke said, struggling not to roll his eyes. He gestured back towards where Parayla had been sitting, and found she was crouched down and hiding behind the side of the couch. He smiled and walked over to help her stand up.</p><p>"Come on, it's okay," he said gently. "Here." He picked up the promotional flimsi. "He'll autograph it for you."</p><p>"This is the artist," he said to Sunny, keeping a hand on Parayla's back as he helped her stand up. He could feel her trembling.</p><p>"Sweetheart, this is amazing," he said. "What's your name?"</p><p>"Pa … ray .. la …" she said, her voice sounding like she was about to burst into tears.</p><p>"You have a pretty name, Parayla," Sunny said, picking up the flimsi. He wrote a long message, during which Parayla had to dry her eyes using one of the takeout napkins.</p><p>"Gotta fly away now," he said, as his security team began tapping their comlinks. "You take care, Parayla." He handed her the flimsi, and was then herded out a side door. It was at least a minute before Parayla was able to stop crying and actually read the autograph. Unfortunately, whatever he'd written, it only made her cry more.</p><p>"Here," Commander Wray said, passing her a clump of tissues from a box on the caf table. "Just breathe slowly."</p><p>"What did he write?" Erma asked. "Can I see?"</p><p>Parayla was holding the flimsi in a vice-like grip, but she let go enough for the other girl to remove it from her hands and scan the text. But when she'd done so, her face screwed up, and she said, "What a kriffin' sleemo!"</p><p>"What?" Luke said. She passed it to him, and he read the words, becoming increasingly horrified.</p><p>
  <em>Parayla,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You're cute and you're a talented artist, but you need to do something about those spots. Get yourself a makeover and next time I see you, I'll invite you to my hotel room.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hugs and kisses, Sunny</em>
</p><p>"Stars, what a … I don't believe this," Luke said. "I should take a picture of this and send it to the <em>Enquirer.</em>"</p><p>"No!" Parayla said, raising a hand as she blew her nose. "He's right! They're so ugly!"</p><p>"He's not right," Luke said. "Don't believe this for one second." He began to tear the flimsi, but Parayla dived forward to save it.</p><p>"I'd heard he could be quite awful to fans," Commander Wray said, as his daughter repeated the message. "But you'd think he'd be more cautious at an event like this."</p><p>"Let's get out of here," Erma said. "I need to go home and destroy all my holos."</p><hr/><p>The evening was a complete write-off after that. Parayla couldn't stop crying, and Commander Wray said he better fly her back home. Luke came for the ride and went up to her apartment with her, feeling like he should at least make sure she made it to her door. He couldn't help but wish he'd never even seen her on the landing pad, because his attempt to do something nice had resulted in a cruel experience that she was unlikely to ever forget.</p><p>He still felt terrible about it on his way to school the following morning. When he stopped at the landing pad to pick up Ben, his friend didn't appear much happier.</p><p>"Hey," Luke said, as Ben slid into the passenger seat. "Good weekend?"</p><p>Ben shrugged.</p><p>"It was okay."</p><p>"You'll never guess what happened to me yesterday. It was crazy."</p><p>"You had a great time with my father?" Ben asked, in a tone with an undercurrent of resentment.</p><p>Luke raised his eyebrows as he took off, accelerating towards the traffic lane.</p><p>"I thought you said you were okay with that."</p><p>"I am."</p><p>"That tone didn't sound like you were okay."</p><p>"I'm not a morning person."</p><p>"Yes, you are. If you don't want me doing this with your dad, then I won't."</p><p>"No, it's fine," Ben said. "I'm just glad he's not making me train for the stupid contest anymore."</p><p>"Okay, then," Luke said, carefully.</p><p>"So what crazy thing happened to you?"</p><p>"I met Sunny Sy Vesta," Luke said. "And turns out … he's a complete nerfherder."</p><p>"He was at the firing range?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"I thought you spent the whole day there?"</p><p>"No. Just a couple of hours in the afternoon."</p><p>"It must have been longer than a couple of hours, as he left after lunch, and I didn't get the message to say he'd played my holo until nearly dinner time.'</p><p>"You are really not okay with this," Luke said, beginning to feel frustrated. "Fine. I'll tell your father I can't enter the contest."</p><p>"Don't you dare!" Ben said, suddenly angry. "You said you'd do this! You can't just back out!"</p><p>"Calm down!" Luke said, braking to avoid a speeder that had swerved in front. "What's wrong with you?"</p><p>"Nothing!" Ben said, struggling to get his temper under control. He remained silent until after they'd landed, and then said, in a calmer tone. "Please enter the contest with my father."</p><p>Luke didn't reply. He turned to look at Ben, but his friend only pushed open the passenger door, swung his bag roughly over his shoulder and stalked off towards the locker hall.</p><p>"And I thought my father was moody," Luke said to the air, tapping the speeder controls.</p><hr/><p>The day did not improve after that. Ben continued to waver between being completely silent and something that resembled forced politeness. They spent the lunch break doing homework without speaking, and Luke began counting down the minutes until the school day was over and he could go back to the peace and quiet of his room.</p><p>The last class of the day was biology, something that wasn't Luke's favorite, and to make matters worse, it was being held in one of the labs which didn't have any windows.</p><p>When their teacher, Ms Triseeta, walked into the room, she looked overly enthused. This was never a good sign. Her species had two primary arms, and two smaller skinny ones, and she was twirling a lighted pointing stick between them.</p><p>"Good afternoon, students of discovery," she said. "Guess what week it is?"</p><p>"No homework week?" someone in the front row suggested.</p><p>"Clever," she said, pointing at them with the stick. "It's biology project week! Are we all excited to meet your team?!"</p><p>There was a suitable level of complaining, and then she urged everyone to check under their seats for a colored square. As soon as they saw what color they had, some students quickly tried to swap them behind her back.</p><p>Luke glanced down at his own purple square, and then looked at Ben's.</p><p>"Also purple," Ben sighed. "They always put me in a group with you."</p><p>"Because we're friends?" Luke suggested.</p><p>"It's because anyone else would complain if they had to work with a charity case like me," Ben said.</p><p>"Come on, that's not true."</p><p>"It is true!"</p><p>"If you don't want to work with me, then swap," Luke said, gesturing to the girl beside him. "Look. Karla's trying to swap."</p><p>"I need orange," she said desperately. "Please, tell me you have orange!"</p><p>Ms Triseeta spun around when she reached the front of the classroom, and shone her light pointer at Karla. "No swapping! I've got eyes in my hands, people. Don't even think about it. Now, everyone, turn over your colored square and take note of the number on the bottom. That's your new team."</p><p>Everyone groaned at the trick, but Luke turned his over, relieved that he would get a break from Ben's mood after all. But as soon as Ben placed his on the desk, they realized they both said 2.</p><p>"I don't believe this," Ben said, looking at the ceiling.</p><p>"Come on," Luke sighed, picking up his school bag. Ms Triseeta was drawing a large number 2 on the screen in the top-right corner of the lab.</p><p>The room was a mess of confusion and noise as people swapped seats. When they arrived in the Group 2 area, only Greein was there. He grinned when he saw them.</p><p>"Hey, Ben, Luke!" he said, enthusiastically. "Perfect!"</p><p>Luke was just about to point out to Ben that Greein, the youngest son of an archduke, was more than fine with the idea of working with him, when Ophelia walked up to the table. Her expression switched from indifference to annoyance as she looked around at them.</p><p>"Oh, <em>great</em>," she said, sarcastically.</p><p>Then a fifth member came up, a brown-furred bothan girl named Juno Lilano, and she took one look at Ophelia and said, "No. No way. Ms Triseeta! I need to swap!"</p><p>"No, I need to swap," Ophelia said. "Please, by the Force, let me swap!"</p><p>"No one is swapping, my dears," Ms Triseeta said, coming up behind Ophelia and Juno and putting her hands on their shoulders. "What's wrong with you two girls? You used to be good friends last year."</p><p>"That was last year," Juno said.</p><p>"Then this is a good time to patch things up," she said. "You can start right now by joining hands and pledging not to let personal differences get in the way of the grand pursuit of science."</p><p>Both girls gave each other a vaguely hostile look and then turned away.</p><p>Luke looked longingly at the group behind him, wondering if Ms Triseeta would notice if he crawled under the tables and popped up on the other side of the classroom.</p><hr/><p>Vader was standing on the balcony, quietly communing with the Force, when he felt his son's presence beyond the doors. The boy had been doing an excellent job of avoiding him since he'd caught him using a blaster in the hangar workroom last week, but it seemed enough time had now passed that he felt safe enough to venture into his usual close proximity.</p><p>He soon appeared beside him, resting with his arms on the railing.</p><p>"Hi. Did your mission go okay?"</p><p>"Unfortunately, it was a false lead. The Liberator Army remains at large."</p><p>"Oh. That's … not good."</p><p>"No," Vader agreed. "Did you occupy yourself productively over the weekend?"</p><p>Luke started to say something, and then fully slumped onto the balcony wall, chin resting on his arm.</p><p>"My entire life is falling apart."</p><p>"Really," Vader said, dryly. He glanced down. "You mean the government has collapsed, everyone you love is dead, and your best friend tried to kill you?"</p><p>"Well … okay, no, not <em>quite</em> that bad," Luke said, frowning. He sighed then, straightening up. "Listen … I need to talk to my father right now. Not <em>Lord Vader</em>."</p><p>Vader was about to make another dry remark, and then he decided to oblige his son's request. He turned towards Luke, giving him his full attention.</p><p>"This sounds serious."</p><p>"It is. I don't even know how I ended up in this mess. All I tried to do was help people … but I just ended up ruining things. Now Ben is mad at me, and I don't know how to fix it."</p><p>"Have you ever heard the phrase 'no good deed goes unpunished'?" Vader asked.</p><p>"No. But I have heard that my grandmother liked to say that the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other."</p><p>It was unsettling, hearing those words from Luke.</p><p>"Did your uncle tell you that?"</p><p>Luke nodded.</p><p>"How did you try and help your spineless friend?"</p><p>"Next week, there's an open day for the palace staff where they can bring their friends and family in for the official tour and some fun competitions. There's a coloring-in contest for the kids. There's also a shooting contest where one member of the palace staff can enter with a friend or family member. So Ben's father wanted to enter with Ben. But Ben isn't good at shooting and after Captain Jarnet saw me shooting, Ben said I should enter with his father instead of him. I didn't really want to but there's some big feud downstairs between Commander Julius and the royal guards, and it's really important to Captain Jarnet to win this thing. Ben insisted he was okay with it, but it's obvious he really isn't. Today he was acting all moody about it and kept insisting it was fine but then wanting to know exactly how much time I had spent practicing with his father."</p><p>Vader listened to all this, surprised by how much he could actually follow.</p><p>"So your friend is jealous that his father is entering this competition with you?"</p><p>"Yes. After it was his idea for me to enter in the first place, and after his father said he would prefer to enter with Ben. I can see now I should have seen this coming and made up some excuse why I couldn't enter. But what can I do now? If I stay in the contest, he'll be mad. If I drop out, he'll be mad."</p><p>Vader was about to offer some advice, when Luke slapped the railing.</p><p>"And then, if all that wasn't crazy enough, last night I accidentally ruined this poor girl's life when I helped her meet her celebrity idol. Her idol turned out to be a complete and utter nerfherder and now her self-esteem is ruined."</p><p>"I can see a pattern," Vader said.</p><p>"That I should stop trying to be helpful?"</p><p>"You should stop feeling responsible for things outside your control. You cannot control your friend's jealousy. You cannot control how a celebrity behaves."</p><p>"But I want Ben to act like my friend again. What can I do to fix it?"</p><p>"Nothing. You have to let go and release your desire to control that which cannot be controlled. Your friend needs to follow his own path."</p><p>"Oh, stars, now you're going all weird on me," Luke said, raising his arms dramatically. "Not everything is about the cosmic Force."</p><p>"I didn't mention the Force."</p><p>"You were about to!" Luke said, pointing at him. He turned away then, his movement causing the doors to open. "Forget it."</p><p>After he had disappeared back inside, Vader was about to resume his meditation, when the doors hissed open again. Luke popped up on his other side now.</p><p>"Can I at least have my HoloNet access back? I need something to distract me from all my problems."</p><p>"Tell me what you have learned about responsible behavior with firearms."</p><p>Luke sighed in a dramatic way. "That you shouldn't use them in a room with flammable chemicals and things the bolts could bounce off and hurt people. And … practicing should be done on a proper firing range with safety equipment."</p><p>Vader remained silent, and Luke traced his finger around the edges of a join in the balcony railing.</p><p>"I also apologised to the trooper for borrowing his blaster," Luke said. "We're friends now. His name is Robi."</p><p>"I see," Vader said, doing his best not to sound amused.</p><p>"That reminds me," Luke said, looking up. "Captain Jarnet wanted to make sure you were okay with me going to a firing range with him." He snapped his fingers then. "Hey, that's it! You say I can't do it, and then I can tell them that I can't be in the contest because of you! That lets me off the hook."</p><p>"Son …"</p><p>"Perfect solution."</p><p>"It is not a solution. It is avoiding the true issue and will not solve the underlying problem."</p><p>"Yes, it will!"</p><p>"What will you do next time you experience a friend's jealousy and cannot use me as an excuse?"</p><p>"I'm just trying to get through this week! We have to work on a biology project together, and he's barely talking to me."</p><p>Vader was quiet, analysing what he could sense from Luke. Some of his feelings stirred up long forgotten memories. He had experienced jealousy from other padawans right from his first weeks at the Jedi temple.</p><p>"Do you enjoy practicing at the firing range with Ben's father?"</p><p>Luke nodded. "The simulations are fun. I made the top ten list on the level 2 moving target simulation downstairs. Captain Jarnet is a professional, so he's taught me things which have improved my accuracy." He shrugged. "If we were just doing this for fun, and Ben was there too, I would love it."</p><p>"And you are much better at this than Ben?"</p><p>"Ben can barely hit anything. He gets so anxious about it, his hands shake. He's not like that when we're playing virtual reality games in the holo gaming arcades."</p><p>"Are there different activities where Ben is more talented than you?"</p><p>"Yes! That's a good point. Greein was excited to see Ben joining our biology project team because he knows how good he is at science. I need Ben's help to understand some of the trickier algebra problems in math."</p><p>"Would you expect Ben to stop doing something he enjoys because you were jealous of his talent?"</p><p>"No, but … maybe this isn't just about me being a better shot than him. Maybe he's worried that his father likes to spend time with me more than him. His father is more athletic and Ben is more academic."</p><p>"Perhaps you should ask Ben if he would like to spend some quality time with me to even up the score."</p><p>Luke smiled. "Maybe you could help him with his political studies homework."</p><p>"He would faint from sheer terror."</p><p>"What he really needs to do is talk about this with his father," Luke said, looking down. "Or Captain Jarnet should talk about it with him. If I was feeling insecure, then you would reassure me. I'm sure Ben's father would do the same. But maybe he just doesn't realize that Ben is sensitive about it." He sighed. "Why are friendships so complicated? I just want to go back to how it was before any of this happened."</p><p>"If it helps, Son, then you may have your HoloNet access back. Perhaps spending some time in your own company will give you a new perspective."</p><p>"Thanks," Luke said. "I'm going to need a lot of alone time to face biology class tomorrow, that's for sure."</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Luke did find he had a fresh perspective on the situation after some time spent catching up on Hutt soap operas and a good night's sleep. After he came out of the refresher, he saw a message waiting for him on his comlink, and he set it playing while he dressed in his school uniform. He wasn't surprised to see it was from Ben.</p><p>"Hey, Luke," he said, sounding subdued. "Don't worry about picking me up this morning. I went to the library early to do some study." He paused, fidgeting with his sleeve. "I think it's best if we just don't talk about the shooting contest. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I was the one who brought it up yesterday. But let's just pretend it isn't happening and … it will all be over soon. Then I'll get my dad back and things will be normal. Right now he's spending all his time researching how to win blaster training simulations and it's driving me crazy. See you at school."</p><p>"Sure," Luke said, responding to the message even though Ben couldn't hear him. "We can just not talk about it. Great idea, Ben. Let's see how well that works for you."</p><p>As hard as it was to admit, his father had a point. He couldn't control how Ben felt. So maybe he just needed to be patient, difficult as it was, until Ben had got over his initial hurt and was feeling more like talking about it.</p><p>Biology was the last class before lunch, and Ms Triseeta had lost none of her enthusiasm for biology project week. Each group was given a topic, and from there, had to design an experiment, gather the data, and then present their results to the class at the end of the week. Their group was handed a topic on the microorganisms involved in fruit decay.</p><p>Luke often found himself naturally taking charge of group projects, and the others were happy to let him organise a timeline and tasks. Ophelia was sitting between him and Greein with her arms folded, and steadfastly ignoring Juno, but she agreed to make a start on the research for the project introduction, while Ben designed the experiments with Juno, and Greein calibrated the scanners used for measuring the microorganism levels.</p><p>The only problem started when the subject of where they were going to meet outside of class time came up. They did have gaps in their class schedule for study, but none of their timetables aligned, and Ophelia ruled out meeting in the school library after class.</p><p>"There are too many annoying thirteen year olds," she said. "You can't even get a study room because they're all in there updating their HoloNet channels."</p><p>"So was that an offer to meet at your place, Ophelia?" Greein asked, smirking.</p><p>She rolled her eyes. "Only two of you would pass the vetting required to stand on the terrace outside my mansion."</p><p>Juno groaned. "Could you be any more of a snob?"</p><p>"Okay, okay," Luke said, putting his hands on the table before Ophelia could make a comeback. "Let's meet at the public library."</p><p>"There's a <em>public</em> library?" Greein asked. "Where's that?"</p><p>"I've heard it's full of homeless people and spice dealers," Juno said, causing Ophelia to look nervous.</p><p>Luke sighed. Now would normally be the moment he would share a 'can you believe these people?' look with Ben, but his friend was busy writing up experiment instructions.</p><p>"Huh," Greein said. He'd picked up a viewscreen and was attempting to use it to locate the Imperial City public library, but he'd been distracted by a HoloNet news popup. "Sunny Sy Vesta has been kidnapped!"</p><p>Instantly, there were five people hovering behind Greein, trying to see the viewscreen over his shoulder. Even Ben had looked up from his notes.</p><p>"Are you serious?!" Juno said. "From where?"</p><p>"Imperial City," Greein said. "Not far from his hotel."</p><p>"Ha!" Luke said. "That's the best news I've heard all week! I hope they keep him."</p><p>Greein gave him a confused look, and then his gaze shifted to Ophelia. She pushed aside her chair and ran for the classroom door, dodging past the teacher.</p><p>"Oh," Luke said, as Juno raised a furry eyebrow at him. "That was … insensitive."</p><p>"Not even I would say something that low, Luke," Juno said. "She's still not over him dumping her."</p><p>"He did not dump her," Greein said. "The <em>Enquirer</em> said she ended it."</p><p>"Her father's PR agent paid the <em>Enquirer</em> to say that," Juno said.</p><p>"I better go check that she's all right," Luke said, feeling even worse. As if recent events didn't already make him feel like a terrible human being.</p><p>Ms Triseeta was understanding when he explained what was going on, and Luke soon found Ophelia in an empty classroom nearby. She was pacing up and down while talking to a holo of a Balosar man who was dressed like a bodyguard. The call ended as Luke tapped on the open door, and she didn't yell at him to get out, so he had to assume he was safe to approach.</p><p>"Sorry about what I said. I didn't think."</p><p>"I just called his head bodyguard," Ophelia said, still pacing. "I still had his frequency. He said he went outside to meet some girl and told all the security staff to stay in the lobby. Then he just vanished. They thought he had gone off on his own, but then ISB received a ransom message."</p><p>"They want money?" Luke said, coming further into the classroom.</p><p>"He hadn't seen it, but he said he'd heard there were political demands as well." She stopped beside the window, wrapping her arms around her front.</p><p>"Well … his parents are really rich, right?" Luke said, carefully. "They'll probably just pay the ransom and get him back quickly. Hopefully."</p><p>"Maybe," she admitted. She put her hand on her forehead, cupping her fingers around her eyes.</p><p>Luke came closer, hearing the sound of sirens in the distance. Ophelia glanced up, just as Luke pointed towards the sky. "Troop transports. They must be calling in the military to help."</p><p>"I can't believe this," Ophelia said, her voice sounding pained. "The week started so normal."</p><hr/><p>"Who is this boy?" Vader asked, staring at the holo image on the Emperor's desk. He was reasonably certain he had never seen him before.</p><p>"Really, Lord Vader," the Emperor said. "You spend too much time on Mustafar. Ask your son."</p><p>"The palace comm lines have been overloaded with his legions of adoring fans demanding we recall the entire army to Coruscant and search every level until he is found," Mas Amedda said, from his seat in front of the desk. "Does that answer your question?"</p><p>"A holovid actor?" Vader suggested.</p><p>Before the Grand Vizier could answer, the doors into the Emperor's office opened, and a woman entered, dressed in the uniform of the senior members of the Imperial Security Bureau. She stopped at attention beside Mas Amedda's seat and bowed to the Emperor.</p><p>"Your highness." When she straightened up, she acknowledged Vader and the Grand Vizier as well. "My lord. Your excellency."</p><p>"Welcome, Commander Shabe. I appreciate your prompt arrival."</p><p>Commander Shabe was the third ranking member of the leadership team at ISB, and her superiors were busy preparing a full analysis of the situation to present to the ruling council. But Commander Shabe had been dispatched with a copy of the ransom demands, under full security escort.</p><p>She inserted the data tape into the main projector in the center of the room, and a distorted image of a modified Clone Wars era droid appeared.</p><p>"To the tyrants and sorcerers who call themselves the rulers of the galaxy," the droid started, in a largely emotionless tone. "We have taken Sunny Sy Vesta. We will take more of your children if our demands are not met. You will bring the following weapons to our agent in the Icarthi asteroid belt."</p><p>The droid then detailed ten specific makes and models of blasters, thermal detonators, and melee weapons.</p><p>"We will also require twenty million credits," the droid continued. "When you are ready to agree to our demands, you will communicate your submission by lowering the Empire's imposter flags above the Imperial Palace. Then we will send you another message. If you do not respond in a timely manner, expect more of your children to be taken."</p><p>The image flickered once, and then disappeared.</p><p>"The Icarthi asteroid belt," Vader repeated. "The home of the rumored Liberator base."</p><p>Commander Shabe nodded. "We are not ready to state anything with certainty, my lord, but it does seem to suggest they are behind this."</p><p>The Emperor chuckled to himself, and then stood up, facing the window looking out over the city.</p><p>"I find myself feeling a certain … admiration for their cunning. Snatching a beloved young celebrity off the streets of Imperial City? Demanding we signal our agreement to their demands by lowering the flags? They show a commendable understanding of politics."</p><p>Vader could not agree, but he didn't offer his thoughts out loud. This talk of kidnapping more children made him consider the possibility of Luke being in danger. The very thought of it made him wish he knew exactly where he could find these vile insurgents. This darkening of his mood caused the Emperor to smile in his direction.</p><p>"Yes, my friend, I know you would admire them more if they challenged us openly. But what hope would they have of winning such a confrontation? Yet this … this will require some strategy."</p><hr/><p>Luke was just about to suggest to Ophelia he could call the security team at the palace, to see if they knew anything, when someone walking past the classroom stopped and quickly reversed.</p><p>"Luke. Ophelia. Thank the Force—I've been looking for you."</p><p>It was Miss Silva, the principal.</p><p>"Did you hear about the kidnapping?" Luke said, gesturing out the window.</p><p>"Yes, and the ISB education office has requested all children of government leaders return to their place of residence for the time being. This is just a precaution—there is no need for alarm."</p><p>"What, right now?" Luke said. "Can't I just go home after school?"</p><p>"Yes, now. Ophelia, your chauffeur is already waiting."</p><p>Luke could only sigh. The principal walked beside him all the way to the assembly hall, where a collection of students had been gathered, complete with security droids and teachers standing watch. Apparently he wasn't even allowed to fly his own speeder back to the palace.</p><p>Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before Miss Silva came to tell him his ride was here. He expected to see Lev in the reception, or perhaps one of the other palace assistants, but instead it was Commander Julius with two royal guards.</p><p>"Hi, Cupcake," she said. "You've managed to get the afternoon off, huh?"</p><p>"I think I'd rather stay in school," Luke said, walking quickly towards the elevators. He didn't want the other students seeing the royal guards, and they weren't exactly discrete. "This is an overreaction."</p><p>"ISB wouldn't order this unless it was justified," Commander Julius said. "They haven't released all the details yet, so we just have to trust."</p><p>Luke grumbled all the way to the landing pad, but Commander Julius ignored him, and kept scanning the area like she expected a kidnapper to jump out of nowhere. Luke sighed louder when they passed his own prized speeder. It was a sixteenth birthday present from his father, and just the thought of it having to spend the night on the school landing pad was too much. Perhaps he could sneak back later and get it.</p><p>"One of the troopers can bring it back," Commander Julius said, putting a hand on his back to gently move him on.</p><p>"I can't trust anyone with—" Luke broke off as he saw the two stormtroopers standing in front of the armoured Imperial speeder. The one on the right was Robi. Well, considering he'd borrowed his blaster, he supposed he could let him borrow his speeder. He felt in his pocket for the key, and then held it out. "Here, Robi. It's the yellow one parked in the middle. I've done a lot of modifications on the acceleration, so it needs a light touch."</p><p>"I'll take good care of her," Robi said, giving him a salute.</p><p>Commander Julius smiled as she guided him into the back seat of the speeder. "I won't even ask how you knew his name."</p><p>"Probably for the best."</p><p>It was only a short flight across the city to the Imperial Palace, and Commander Julius landed the speeder in the underground hangar not far from her office. The palace itself was a buzz of activity, with officers wandering between meeting rooms and extra guards stationed everywhere. Luke's first thought was to locate Lev and find out what he knew, but Commander Julius discouraged him.</p><p>"They're fielding endless questions from the media and government employees wanting to know what's going on," she said. "Then someone leaked their comlink frequency to some Sunny Sy Vesta fanclub and the comm channels were overloaded. The techs are trying to add capacity."</p><p>"Where's my father?" Luke asked, walking beside her down the corridor. "Would he know more?"</p><p>"He's been with the Emperor since the news broke," she said. "I'll send him a message to say you're now safely in the palace."</p><p>Luke was just about to ask if Lieutenant Hicks had more Choco Pebbles today, when Captain Jarnet came out of the royal guard wing, dressed in their off duty uniform.</p><p>"Oh, Luke," he said. "You had to leave school?"</p><p>"Orders from ISB," Commander Julius said.</p><p>"I sent Ben a message, and he said only certain students had to go home. I wonder if some specific threats have been made."</p><p>Luke felt an odd feeling in his gut at the words. What if whoever had kidnapped Sunny had said they'd come after him too? Or Ophelia?</p><p>Commander Julius shook her head. "I just hope they find them soon. What kind of sleemo threatens children?" She rested her hand on Luke's shoulder for a moment, and then turned to enter the security office. As soon as she was gone, Ben's father turned back to Luke and spoke in a conspiratorial tone.</p><p>"Do you want to practice? I'm just here on reserve, and my actual shift doesn't start for two hours. The firing range will be empty."</p><p>"Sure," Luke said, deciding it would be a good distraction, if nothing else.</p><hr/><p>It was well into the evening by the time Vader left the upper levels of the palace and went in search of Luke. Two royal guards stood on either side of his son's bedroom door, and he dismissed them as he approached. He didn't normally allow guards in this area, preferring some sense of normality for Luke, but this was not a time for being lax with security.</p><p>Luke had his dinner on a tray and was absorbed in some HoloNet entertainment when he opened the door. He switched it off at the sight of him.</p><p>"Hi. What's going on? Was it that Liberator group?"</p><p>Vader breathed through a couple of cycles, and then gestured to his son to stand up. "Come and join me in the conference room."</p><p>Luke brought his food with him, but seemed more interested in learning the details of the ransom message than eating.</p><p>"So did they say they'd kidnap me?" Luke asked, taking a seat in front of the tray. "Is that why I had to leave school?"</p><p>"They did not threaten any specific individuals. But they did announce their intent to take further hostages if their demands were not met."</p><p>"What are their demands?"</p><p>"Weapons and credits."</p><p>"So … Sunny's parents can just provide all that, right? And then they'll let him go?"</p><p>"No. Some of the weapons are not for sale. They are manufactured in secure facilities only for use by the military. And they are clear they consider this ransom deal to be with the Empire, not this boy's parents."</p><p>"Did they say they were looking after him?" Luke asked, running his fork through his vegetables.</p><p>"They gave no indication." Vader glanced at Luke. "Who is this boy? I have attended hours of meetings today and I still don't understand why he is of any interest to a group of insurgents."</p><p>"I don't know why he's famous either," Luke said. "But he has a lot of fans. His father is the lead singer of some ancient pop band. It was probably popular when you were my age. He launched his own fashion line on the weekend."</p><p>His son ate a mouthful of food, and then added, "I met him at the mall. He's a sleemo. Reminds me of a Hutt, if Hutts were good-looking and had a lot of people wanting to date them."</p><p>"So you would be in favor of creating a holo showing his murder by the Liberator Army, and then assassinating him if he should resurface?"</p><p>Luke's eyes widened. "What kind of terrible plan is that?"</p><p>"It is one of the ISB proposals the Emperor is considering."</p><p>"Don't let him do it!"</p><p>"The Liberator Army would lose all public support, which will save lives in the long run."</p><p>Luke frowned. "No. Imagine how his family will feel. How would you feel if it was me?"</p><p>Vader unconsciously let his fingers clench into a fist at the idea. A datapad on the table began to shake.</p><p>"Why don't you just find out where he's being held and then you can go and rescue him with a bunch of troops?" Luke suggested, hastily changing the subject.</p><p>"We have been hunting the Liberator Army for weeks now. The galaxy is a large place."</p><p>"But you must have clues. Did you analyse the comlink signal from the ransom message? Any security recordings from the area where he was taken? What you need is a detective … like T4 the detective droid from that holovid show."</p><p>"ISB has many forensic droids conducting a detailed investigation. It will remain to be seen if they can find anything of use."</p><p>"If not … maybe you could lure them out of hiding somehow." Luke suddenly jumped up, pointing at him. "Wait! I've got a <em>brilliant</em> idea!"</p><p>Vader stared at him, feeling the Force ripple with his son's excitement. "Before you tell me, think carefully. Is it <em>really</em> a good idea?"</p><p>"Yes! You said they'll kidnap more people if you don't give in to their demands, right?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"So … lay a trap. Get someone really famous to walk around without any bodyguards, just like Sunny did. But have them carry a tracking device. They'll lead you straight to their base."</p><p>"A risky plan. What if the kidnappers have enough competence to scan their victim for any sign of a tracking device?"</p><p>"Just make sure it will only activate once they're at the base."</p><p>"I find it unlikely any person of any fame would risk themselves in such a manner."</p><p>"I guess," Luke said, looking down. It wasn't until he saw his own reflection in the shiny table surface that he saw the obvious answer. "What if it was me?"</p><p>"Luke—"</p><p>"No, I'm serious. I wouldn't even need a tracker. I could just use our bond to tell you where I was."</p><p>"No."</p><p>"But—"</p><p>"Under no circumstances will I use you as bait to lure these criminals. You will not leave the palace until this situation is resolved."</p><p>Luke sighed. "Come on. The school has lots of security droids. I'm not wandering around alleyways alone."</p><p>"It is too dangerous. You would be a highly valuable prisoner."</p><p>"Isn't that true every other day of the year?"</p><p>"This is not up for discussion."</p><p>Luke frowned, and then picked up his tray. "Well, I better go back to my cell."</p><p>"Son—"</p><p>Luke was already walking out the door.</p><hr/><p>There were more meetings between the Imperial ruling council and ISB the following morning, full of eager officers presenting on the progress made during the night. None of it was of any real value, and Vader found himself moving away from the table to stare out the window. The fanclub of this vapid celebrity had taken up residence outside the palace, holding signs and holographic projections, urging the Emperor to save their idol. The palace guard were allowing their presence for now, but stormtroopers stood watch, ready to move them on if there was any sign of trouble.</p><p>The Emperor, after a night of meditation, had chosen to hold off on the more drastic solution to their problem. ISB had what they described as a promising lead on a potential location of the Liberator base, and the <em>Devastator</em> was due to be dispatched to investigate the site. Vader would normally have been on board, but he was wary of leaving Luke on Coruscant right now. His son was still in a sulk this morning, and would not respond to the morning greeting he had sent over their link.</p><p>If only Luke was mature enough to realize how lenient he was with his personal security. He had never insisted on bodyguards and security escorts, only that he remained within the normally safe confines of Imperial City. Ever since he'd obtained his speeder license, he'd been pushing at that boundary too, resulting in a few pointed discussions about rules. Perhaps he'd been too lax.</p><p>The sound of shifting chairs made him turn his head slightly, and he recognized the head of the public relations department entering the room. What followed was a dry series of graphs analysing HoloNet activity and opinion polls since the news of the kidnapping broke. He didn't bother to turn away from the window until he heard the word 'parents'.</p><p>"... we are launching a campaign to reassure parents that a kidnapping of this nature is an extremely rare occurrence. Mr Vesta had left his security guards against their advice when this abduction occurred. As long as the young people in Imperial City take sensible precautions for their safety, there is no need for them to change their routines. For this reason, we think it would show leadership if all high-ranking members of the government made a point of letting their children be seen in public."</p><p>"Lord Vader," the Emperor said, speaking for the first time in the last twenty minutes. "Where is your son today?"</p><p>"He is in the palace, as per current ISB advice," Vader said.</p><p>"ISB will update their guidelines this afternoon," an ISB commander said. "In light of the extra security arrangements made by schools and the Imperial City local police."</p><p>"Good," the Emperor said. "Let life in Imperial City return to normal as soon as possible. And perhaps these kidnappers might reveal themselves, if targets are readily available."</p><p>Vader felt a rush of protectiveness at the words. Luke would not be used as bait. If he must return to school, he would send him with a security escort, regardless of his protests.</p><p>Once the meeting was finally over, he went in search of his son, feeling the need to ensure he wasn't attempting to sneak out of the palace. His sense of Luke led him to the library, where he was settled in front of a computer at a study desk. He appeared to be talking to someone, but as Vader approached, he quickly pressed a few buttons and then switched off the screen.</p><p>"What are you doing?" he asked, glancing at Artoo. The droid beeped in greeting.</p><p>"I <em>was</em> attending my biology class," Luke said. "Our teacher has set up a holo projector because so many of us are at home today."</p><p>"Then why did you turn it off?"</p><p>"I don't want my classmates catching sight of you!"</p><p>"I have no wish to see them, either," Vader said. "But you will be pleased to know you can return to school tomorrow."</p><p>"Oh? You've found the Liberator Army?"</p><p>"No. But the Emperor wants life to return to normal in the city. However, you will need a security escort." He raised a hand as Luke began to protest. "No arguments."</p><p>"But the school already says they have security in every classroom now!"</p><p>"What about on the way to and from school?"</p><p>"I can fly myself as usual. No one can kidnap me out of midair."</p><p>"They can. But they will not, as you will have a security escort."</p><p>As Luke opened his mouth again, Vader summoned his best parental tone. The one he used when it was vital to win a battle of wills.</p><p>"If you argue one more time, then I will fly you to school myself. I will also get out of the speeder and hand you a packed lunch in front of your classmates. Then I will refer to you by a nickname when saying goodbye."</p><p>"Okay, okay!" Luke said, standing up and raising his hands. "Security escort. Fine." He dodged past Vader and moved towards the door, causing Artoo to trail after him.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Vader asked. "I thought you were attending classes."</p><p>"They're recording them, so I'll catch up later. I'm going to see if Ben's father is here for his afternoon shift. I feel like shooting at something."</p><hr/><p>Despite being given the 'all clear' from ISB, Luke found his classes were still diminished in size the following day. His math class had at least seven students attending via holo, which resulted in some antics with people purposely waving their hands through the holographic heads of their classmates. Ophelia and Greein didn't show up at all, which made progressing their biology project difficult. Ms Triseeta had allowed an extension due to the current disruptions, but insisted that their experiment and data collection should be completed before tomorrow. Ben was busy refining the experiments due to their newly downsized project team, while Juno was sorting out the equipment.</p><p>"I'll message Greein after class," Luke said. "I have his comlink frequency somewhere. Do you have Ophelia's?"</p><p>"She's probably blocked me," Juno said.</p><p>Luke sighed. "Well, try anyway." He hesitated, looking over all their plans, and then said to Ben, "You've changed it so one person is able to do the experiments."</p><p>"Yeah, I can take the equipment home tonight and do it," Ben said, in a neutral tone. He still wasn't entirely back to normal, but had been civil enough.</p><p>"No, Ben, you've done a lot of work already, and this will take hours," Luke said. "Maybe you two should just come over to the palace and we'll set up the experiments together. I'll let them run overnight with the scanners on automatic and bring them back in tomorrow."</p><p>"The palace?" Juno said, her long, pointed ears pricking up.</p><p>"Yes, I might need to arrange a security pass for you if you don't already have one."</p><p>She smiled. "No, I don't already have one. I'm not Ophelia. How long does it take to get a security pass?"</p><p>"Well … one of the senior officers in the security team is picking me up after school," Luke said. "It's a silly security escort because of the kidnapping. Maybe she can ask you the vetting questions on the way over."</p><p>Commander Julius was willing to go along with this plan, and she let Luke and Ben sit in the back with Robi while she went through the temporary pass application on her datapad in the seat in front. The armored transport speeder was long and could fit around ten people all up, although the royal guards and stormtroopers took up extra room with their armor.</p><p>They landed in the large hangar bay under the administration floor, and soon found an empty meeting room to commandeer for their project. Juno was suitably impressed with the serving droids who would bring any snacks she requested.</p><p>After an hour's work, they had all the experiments setup in a row on a large tray, and Juno had calibrated the scanner to take all the initial readings. Unfortunately, Ophelia had been working on the data presentation part of the project, and they debated whether to wait and see if she'd completed any of it, or start it again from scratch.</p><p>"Ophelia's not even replying," Juno said, slamming her comlink down. "I've tried three different frequencies!"</p><p>"Well, Greein says he'll be back tomorrow," Luke said, checking his messages. "He says if we can give him all the raw data tomorrow, he can create all the graph holos."</p><p>"Great," Juno said. "What's the bet Ophelia comes back at the last minute and just claims all the credit for our work?"</p><p>"Maybe Ophelia's really upset about Sunny," Ben mumbled, fidgeting with his lightpen.</p><p>"I thought they broke up months ago," Luke said, reaching for a handful of Cosmo Crunchies from the bowl in the center of the table. "I didn't even realize she was that into him. I didn't know Ophelia actually liked anybody."</p><p>Juno smiled in a sad way. "No, she was definitely into him. He's why we're no longer friends."</p><p>"Oh?" Luke said. "What happened?"</p><p>"We've known each other since we were ten, back when my mom was a senior assistant for her father. She used to tell me everything … things she'd never tell her other friends. But everything changed when she met that guy. You know Ophelia … she's normally really picky about who she considers worthy of her notice. But after she met Sunny, she wouldn't talk to any of us. Her weekends were full of his social appearances, and she'd take time off school to be with him. Then it was all over and she came back, expecting me to be a shoulder to cry on after she treated me like I was unworthy for three months. I said, 'You know what, Phee? I'm over this. I'm over you.'." She shrugged. "She had other friends who came flocking back to her side. Armith was just happy to have her back. Good luck to them."</p><p>"How do you know he dumped her?" Ben asked.</p><p>"Because her father told me. He was worried about her during the weeks after and wanted me to talk to her." She shrugged. "I would have if she just apologised for pretending like I wasn't worth anything."</p><p>"To be fair, she does treat everyone like they're unworthy," Luke said.</p><p>"I know," Juno said. "But if someone doesn't tell her they won't accept it anymore, then she'll never learn."</p><p>"Did you ever meet Sunny?" Luke asked.</p><p>Juno shook her head. "She never introduced him to anyone. Refused to let her father or brothers meet him, even."</p><p>"I have," Luke said. "It was … weird."</p><p>He proceeded to tell Ben and Juno exactly what had happened at the mall, and they both looked horrified when he reached the part about his autograph message.</p><p>"Wow, that's … scary," Juno said, frowning.</p><p>"The worst thing is, I saw Parayla on the landing pad this morning, and now she's wearing makeup to disguise her natural skin pattern," he said. "And she still has a picture of him sewn into her school pack."</p><p>"You should have taken a picture of it and sent it to the <em>Enquirer</em>," Juno said.</p><p>"I thought about that … but they'd only go after Parayla and I didn't want to risk that. Or I'd get death threats from Sunny's fans."</p><p>"Did you tell Ophelia about that?" Ben asked, speaking for the first time since he'd started the story.</p><p>"No. It seems like the wrong time now." Luke paused to look from Ben to Juno. "I mean … the guy could be <em>dead</em>."</p><p>The mood had become so somber, Luke was just going to suggest they call it a day on the biology project when the door-comm chimed.</p><p>"Someone order more food?" Luke asked, pushing his chair back to stand up.</p><p>The other two shook their heads, and Luke walked over to press the door release. Commander Julius was on the other side, accompanied by a girl who looked like a younger version of her, except for the hair. Commander Julius kept her hair braided into a bun below her hat, while the girl's surrounded her head like a big halo of tight black curls. She smiled shyly at Luke.</p><p>"Oh, hi," he said, grinning back. He stepped back from the door to allow them through. "You must be the junior cadet three time shooting champion?"</p><p>"Aunty!" she said, looking up at Commander Julius with a mortified expression.</p><p>"Calm down, Curly-top," she said, putting an arm around her niece as she guided her into the room. "Luke, this is Tesa. She just arrived on Coruscant this afternoon and normally I'd take her out, but with things the way they are, I'm stuck at work for another hour. I've just got to pop upstairs for a bit, and I thought she might find you and your friends better company than Hicks."</p><p>"Of course, come on in," Luke said, gesturing to the table. "We have lots of snacks and … uh, a biology project?"</p><p>She laughed. "That's fine."</p><p>Commander Julius patted her on the shoulder and then left the room, and Luke gestured to the others. "This is Ben and Juno."</p><p>They said hello, and soon they were all chatting about the military academy where Tesa went to school, and how long she was on Coruscant for. At some stage, she picked up Ben's datapad and began reading his experiment notes.</p><p>"Huh," she said. "I remember doing this project a few months back."</p><p>"Did you keep your experiment results?" Juno asked.</p><p>"No. But your experiments look better than the ones my group came up with anyway." She glanced at Ben. "Did you design these?"</p><p>He looked down in a shy way and nodded.</p><p>"Ben's really good at science," Luke noted.</p><p>"It's my favorite subject," Tesa said. "I'm thinking about getting into the science corps after I graduate."</p><p>"Not the frontline special ops?" Luke suggested.</p><p>She smiled. "My aunt's stories put me off that. And I've drifted away from the shooting in the last year." She shrugged. "I don't think the galaxy needs more blasters. I might have good aim, but I'd rather discover things than shoot them."</p><p>Ben gave her a look like this was a revelation. Tesa noticed him staring, and smiled at him. "I hear you're in the contest, Ben?"</p><p>"Uh ... " He glanced back at the table, and then said, "My father … is still deciding whether to enter or not."</p><p>That was still the official story.</p><p>"My aunt takes it way too seriously," Tesa said, rolling her eyes. "Some kind of feud between her and the royal guards."</p><p>"Yes, I heard the whole story," Luke said. "They all need to calm down, if you ask me."</p><p>"Maybe they can't calm down because people keep bringing it up?" Ben said, in a testy tone.</p><p>"Okay," Luke said, raising his eyebrows. That wasn't what he had meant at all. "Uh … did you try the Cosmo Crunchies, Tesa?"</p><p>He offered her the bowl, and she took a couple, seeming not to have noticed Ben's change in mood.</p><p>"So you take physics as well?" she asked Ben, scrolling up on his datapad. "I really like chemistry."</p><p>"I have to wait until next semester to take chemistry," Ben said, subdued. "Our school specialises in preparing students for government and business leadership, so you have to take economics and political studies."</p><p>"Did you really get 100% in this math test?" she said, smiling at the datapad. "I thought I was the only person nerdy enough to do that."</p><p>"Uh, let's just put that back in my bag," Ben said, slipping the datapad away from her.</p><p>"Ben is super-smart," Juno said, smirking at Ben's embarrassment. "He's a scholarship student."</p><p>Ben quickly swept all his belongings into his bag. "I better go," he said shortly. "See you at school. Nice to meet you, Tesa."</p><p>He was already out the door just as she said, "Bye, Ben."</p><p>"Stars, I hope he didn't think I was suggesting he was a charity case," Juno said, looking distressed. "I'm not Ophelia. I didn't mean it like that."</p><p>"Don't mind him, he's just been … really sensitive lately," Luke said, frowning at the door. "It's nothing to do with you."</p><p>"Is he single?" Tesa asked.</p><p>"Yes. Why?" Luke asked, confused.</p><p>"Luke," Juno sighed.</p><p>Tesa shrugged, smiling. "Not every day I meet a cute, smart boy. Does he like girls?"</p><p>"Oh," Luke said, feeling dense for not understanding earlier. No wonder Tesa had been asking Ben so many questions. "He does like girls."</p><p>"I'll give you my comlink frequency," Tesa said. "Just tell him to call me if he'd like to go out while I'm here."</p><p>"Will do," Luke said, feeling a sudden hope. This might be just the thing to tempt Ben out of his sulk.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Tending to the biology experiments occupied the rest of the evening for Luke, and Artoo and Threepio promised to keep an eye on the samples overnight. Everything looked fine in the morning, and the readouts on the scanners indicated they had gathered a full set of data. But, in all the rush of getting ready and carefully packing the scanners into their case, he completely forgot about the sample tray until the armored speeder had joined a busy traffic lane.</p><p>"Wait, wait!" Luke called to the pilot. "I forgot something! Can we turn around?"</p><p>Robi, who was sitting beside him with his blaster across his lap, turned to look at him, radiating disbelief.</p><p>The security officer, sitting opposite, didn't even look up from a datapad. "Let's just get to the school, and then we can arrange for a droid to deliver whatever you have forgotten," he said.</p><p>"No, this is my biology project," Luke said. "It's important. I need to get the samples signed off." He undid his seat restraints and crawled over until he could lean his head between the front seats, causing much protest from the stormtroopers. "We need to go back!"</p><p>"Uh … it's a little difficult to turn around here," the pilot said.</p><p>"I've done it before," Luke said, pointing. "Just drop out of the lane and do a reverse turn by that apartment tower."</p><p>The pilot dutifully attempted this, causing all of them to be thrown around as the lumbering vehicle struggled to complete the tight turn. Robi's blaster slid off his lap and bounced against the window as they reversed direction, causing another trooper to quickly try and secure it.</p><p>"It's all right!" Robi insisted. "The safety is on!"</p><p>"Yeah, we'd all be dead right now if it wasn't," the security officer said. "How did you even pass training?!"</p><p>"Leave him alone," Luke said, sitting back. "We're in a critical situation right now!"</p><p>Everyone looked at him like he was a few sand grains short of a dune, but he didn't care. They obviously didn't remember what high school was like.</p><p>He directed the pilot to land in his father's hangar bay, and then sprinted to the elevators, dodging around a train of mouse droids. He paused only to glance longingly at his own speeder, sitting unused since the start of this whole kidnapping saga. Maybe if he hadn't been distracted with trying to adjust his morning routine to accommodate for the armored escort, this wouldn't have happened.</p><p>When he arrived in his bedroom, he went straight to his study desk, only to find an empty tray. A quick glance around the room revealed his breakfast dishes had all been taken too, and his discarded pyjamas had been placed on his bed.</p><p>"No … no, no, no …" He was already turning around and intending to run down to the service droid pool, hoping the samples would still be intact. But he barrelled straight into his father on the other side of the door.</p><p>"Arg! <em>Move!</em>" Luke shouted.</p><p>His father only raised a hand, lifting him a short distance off the ground. He flailed his arms desperately.</p><p>"Please!" Luke amended, realizing he'd been rude. "I need to get down to the service droid pool!"</p><p>"Why?" his father asked calmly.</p><p>"They've taken my biology project! I need to get it back!"</p><p>"What did this project look like?"</p><p>"A collection of fruit samples in petri dishes. They were on a tray on my study desk!" Luke struggled against his father's hold again. "Please! I need to hurry!"</p><p>"You will not find them with the service droids," his father said, letting him down. "I threw them away. I thought you had left food rotting on your desk. It wouldn't be the first time."</p><p>Luke stared at his father, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. "You <em>what</em>?!"</p><p>"My apologies. No matter. I am sure you can explain to your teacher what happened."</p><p>Luke shook his head. "Explain to my teacher … no! What galaxy do you live in? Do you have any <em>idea</em> what you've done!?"</p><p>"Calm down."</p><p>"No!" Luke threw his hands in the air. "Why were you even in my bedroom?! Do I go into your room and throw things away? You have no right to do that!"</p><p>"Perhaps you should have labelled it."</p><p>His father actually sounded amused.</p><p>"You're not even sorry! You don't understand! You haven't just <em>wrecked</em> my project. This is going to destroy the last remaining scraps of my friendship with Ben! He wanted to do the experiments, but I insisted I would because he's done so much work for the project already and … oh, why am I even trying to explain this to you?! You have no idea how difficult my life is." Tears were threatening to well up, and Luke turned away, desperately trying to keep a hold on his emotions. Part of him knew he was overreacting, but this week had just been one thing after another. He didn't know how much more he could take.</p><p>"One day, when you know what real problems are, this will not seem so bad," his father suggested, causing Luke to clench his fists. He stormed off towards the elevator, not trusting himself to reply.</p><hr/><p>Ben was unloading a portable dejarik game into his locker when Luke finally arrived in the hall. It was tempting just to wait until he was gone, but he knew this wasn't going to get any easier if he stalled. And besides … he didn't only have bad news to deliver.</p><p>Luke took a deep breath and slowly approached his own locker. "Hey, buddy," he said, quietly. "Weekend tomorrow, huh?"</p><p>"Hi," Ben said, not looking up.</p><p>"So … um … I have some good news and some bad news. What do you want first?"</p><p>Ben glanced up. "How bad is the bad news?"</p><p>Luke stared at the floor and mumbled quickly. "My father accidentally threw away the experiments."</p><p>"Luke! What?! How did that even happen? Did you leave them unattended?"</p><p>Luke raised his hands. "I still have the data from the scanners! I'll talk to Ms Triseeta!"</p><p>Ben frowned. "So what's the good news?"</p><p>"Tesa thought you were cute."</p><p>Ben didn't stop frowning. "And?"</p><p>"And … she gave me her comlink frequency to give to you. Said to call her if you want to go out while she's here."</p><p>Ben's expression still didn't change.</p><p>"What's wrong? You didn't like her?"</p><p>"Why would she like me?" Ben asked, sounding suspicious.</p><p>"She has a thing for smart boys, apparently," Luke said, reaching up to close his locker.</p><p>"Didn't Juno tell her I was a charity case?"</p><p>Luke struggled not to roll his eyes. "Juno didn't mean that at all. And besides, it's not like Tesa is the daughter of some queen." Luke realized just what he was implying, and hastily backtracked. Stars, he'd been living on Coruscant too long. "Not that it would make any difference either way if she was."</p><p>Ben closed his own locker with a bang. "Did she really want to go out with me? Or did you and Juno suggest that she should ask the humble peasant boy out just to be nice?"</p><p>"The humble peasant boy?" Luke said, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Ben, I have actually been a peasant boy, and how you and your father live is a hundred times better than that. Where did you get this chip on your shoulder?"</p><p>"Forget it," Ben said, raising his hands at Luke's tone.</p><p>"I can't believe you're going to turn down a date with a girl like Tesa because you think there's no way she would actually be interested in you," Luke said, pointing at Ben before he knew what his hand was doing. "This is the same thing that happened with the shooting. You just keep telling yourself you're not good enough and there's no room for anything else."</p><p>"Can you blame me?! I'm surrounded by all these amazing people! Tesa has won <em>awards</em> for her shooting and she doesn't even like blasters! You can shoot even better than my father! He wishes you were his son, not me!"</p><p>"What? Ben! Your father never said—"</p><p>A droid arm waved in the space between them, and they both looked at the owner of the metal hand. B-60 stood beside them, torso lights flashing.</p><p>"Are you two aware class began two minutes ago?"</p><p>Luke sighed, and Ben turned away.</p><p>"No, thank you for telling us, B-60," Luke said. Another minute and maybe they might have actually resolved this argument.</p><p>Unfortunately, B-60 had no sarcasm detector.</p><p>"You're welcome. Now leave the locker hall and go to class before I summon one of my new armed security droid friends to escort you."</p><hr/><p>Ben had a dejarik meet at lunch, and Luke felt like being alone, so he found a quiet study desk in the library and tried to figure out if they could still somehow pass this biology project without redoing it all from scratch. There was still no sign of Ophelia, but he'd seen Greein in a couple of classes that morning, so he was hoping they could find enough time to finalise what they would do over the weekend during the class after lunch.</p><p>He arrived early for it, taking his usual seat at the Group 2 lab table. Juno was the next to arrive, and she smiled at Luke.</p><p>"Hey. How did the experiments go? And did you tell Ben about Tesa?"</p><p>"I did," Luke said. "But he didn't believe she really would ask him out, because he has an inferiority complex." He rested his head against his folded arms. "And my father threw away the experiments."</p><p>Her ears flattened in surprise. "What?"</p><p>"I should have seen it coming, judging by how the rest of this week has gone," Luke said.</p><p>"What are we going to do?"</p><p>Before he could answer, Greein bounced up, looking annoyingly happy. Ben was close behind him.</p><p>"I'm sorry I wasn't here," Greein said. "My parents were freaking out. I had to argue to be allowed to come today." He patted Luke on the back. "Ben told me what happened with the experiments. Don't worry. We'll get an extension and I'll redo them this weekend."</p><p>"I can't believe they still don't know where Sunny is," Juno said. "I saw on the HoloNet that some of his fanclub are threatening to hunger strike if he isn't returned by midnight."</p><p>"I know. It's been three days now," Greein said.</p><p>Ms Triseeta entered the room then and closed the door behind her.</p><p>"Good afternoon, students of discovery," she said. "I'm going to come around each group today and review your experiments—" She broke off as the door opened again, and a hush fell over the classroom when one more student appeared in the doorway. It was Ophelia. She looked every bit her usual confident self as she strolled across the room towards the Group 2 lab table.</p><p>"Sorry I'm late, Ms Triseeta," she said, taking her seat.</p><p>"It's nice to see you, Ophelia," she said. "Glad you could make it."</p><p>She nodded, not sparing the rest of them so much as a hello smile. It seemed Ophelia was definitely back.</p><p>As soon as Ms Triseeta had finished outlining the class agenda for today, Ophelia turned to face them.</p><p>"I know I've been out of touch," she said. "It's … been complicated at home. But … I've finished the rest of the presentation. We just need the experiments and the results." She placed a datapad on the table and pressed a button. It immediately lit up with a holo, showing the project title and all their names, and then she scrolled through the introduction.</p><p>"That's great, Ophelia," Luke said, surprised. "Uh … about the experiments ..."</p><p>Ms Triseeta arrived at their table, and Luke put both his hands over his face, wondering how he was ever going to make it sound believable that the man in charge of the Imperial military also apparently had enough time in the morning to inspect his son's bedroom for rotting food. But then Greein spoke up.</p><p>"Our experiment samples were accidentally destroyed," he said. "But we have all the data. Can we present it without the samples?"</p><p>"That sounds like a good opportunity to improve on your process," she said. "Let's go through what you've done so far."</p><p>Luke breathed out with relief as Juno brought up the data from the scanners. Their teacher was full of praise for the research and experiment planning, but also had a lot of advice and areas that needed correction.</p><p>"If you'd presented this as is with the missing samples, it would have passed, but I want you all to aim higher," she said. "You're good students and I believe you can get this to a top grade if you put in some more work over the weekend and present next week. What do you think?"</p><p>They nodded in agreement, and as she moved on to the next group, Juno looked back at Luke.</p><p>"Maybe we can meet at the palace again after school? That was really fun."</p><p>Ophelia stared at her. "They actually let <em>you</em> into the palace?"</p><p>"Ophelia," Luke said, frowning.</p><p>"Will your father be there?" Greein said, looking at Luke with shining eyes. "Could I meet him?"</p><p>"Unlikely," Luke said. "He's busy with meetings at the military headquarters. They're still searching for the Liberator base. And if he is around, I will tell him to stay on the other side of the palace."</p><p>"Why?!" Greein protested. "Come on, please let me meet him. Do you think he would give me his autograph?"</p><p>Ophelia stared at him, shaking her head. "Greein, you are so far beneath Lord Vader's notice, he wouldn't remember your name long enough to write it." She looked back at Luke. "I'll just need to confirm with my father that it's all right for me to go, but if not, I can always join you via holo."</p><p>"I will definitely be there," Greein said.</p><p>Ben didn't say anything, and Luke wondered if he would opt to attend via holo as well. But after the last class of the day, Luke found him waiting at the landing pad with Juno, while Robi and Commander Julius waited to pick him up.</p><p>"Biology project still not done?" she enquired, as they walked over to the armored speeder. "I heard about what happened this morning."</p><p>"Don't remind me," Luke said. "We're going to have to do the experiments again. By the way, there's two other members of the project team coming as well. Ophelia Halifax and Greein Morta-Clan. They'll be in the system already, as their parents attend palace events."</p><p>"Sure thing. You'll need to find another room because there's an assistant's office meeting in the administration conference room. Try the one near the conservatory."</p><p>"Will do."</p><p>Walking from the hangar bay near the security office up to the main conservatory involved traversing the main entrance hall of the Imperial Palace, and Juno, who had only been here once on a public tour, wanted to stop and admire the view. The palace had been closed to public tours since the day of the kidnapping, so the hall was quiet, and the only other movements were from protocol droids on their way to deliver messages.</p><p>The conference room had a long rectangular table with a full-sized holovid at one end, and several projectors. One wall was transparisteel windows, overlooking the conservatory below, and the faint sound of the main fountain could be heard. It was an ideal environment for working on something that required collaboration and focus, and they were well set up with snack bowls by the time Ophelia and Greein arrived.</p><p>There was something about being in a room actually meant for the use of adults managing an Empire, rather than teenagers working on a school biology project, that helped Luke keep everyone focused. Ophelia had arranged for her chauffeur to return in two hours, but after an hour and a half, they were running through the final tasks each of them had to carry out over the weekend. They had incorporated all their teacher's notes into the presentation and improved the experiment plans, and everyone had a new food sample and a scanner.</p><p>"I've got a good feeling about this," Luke remarked, as he switched off the holovid. "As long as the experiments go well, we'll be done by the end of the weekend. If not, we've still got a few days if we need to revise anything."</p><p>"Did you see Group 3 earlier?" Greein said. "They hadn't even started their experiment plans." He smiled at the girls. "Bet you're happy you didn't swap now."</p><p>Ophelia rolled her eyes. Then she half-slipped out of her chair as an alarm blared over the room comlink system. It was followed by a soothing droid voice.</p><p>
  <em>Security alert. All visitors, please remain in your present location.</em>
</p><p>The alarm blared again.</p><p>Luke looked around, feeling the air tingle with some sense of … something.</p><p>"Look!" Ben said, pointing across the room.</p><p>Through the transparisteel wall that looked out over the conservatory, it was possible to see the skyline of Imperial City through the outer conservatory windows. The sun had just set, but the buildings were lit up in stark white as dozens of troop ships flew into the area, spotlights on full beam.</p><p>"What's going on?" Juno said. "Maybe they found Sunny."</p><p>Luke quickly turned the holovid back on and picked up the remote to tune it into the HoloNet news. But before he could do so, the doors to the meeting room slid open, and Commander Julius entered the room at a full sprint, followed by Lev and three royal guards.</p><p>"Oh, thank the Force!" she said, leaning with her hands on the table as she caught her breath. She was looking at Ophelia.</p><p>"What is it?" Luke said, staring from Lev to Commander Julius in surprise. The royal guards were moving to flank Ophelia's chair, and she was looking at them in confusion.</p><p>"ISB has received a ransom communication from the Liberator Army, claiming Miss Halifax is their hostage," Lev explained.</p><p>Greein snorted with laughter. "Well, that's obviously a lie."</p><p>"A girl has been taken from a cafe near the Freedom Memorial park," Commander Julius said, straightening up. "She looks similar enough that no one was sure."</p><p>Ophelia picked up her comlink, studying the indicator lights. "But my family hasn't called?"</p><p>"There is a communications jam in effect," Lev said. "Imperial City is currently under complete lockdown. The kidnappers must still be in the vicinity, as all this has only happened in the last twenty minutes."</p><p>While Lev was speaking, more palace staff had entered the meeting room, including one officer Luke recognized as the lieutenant who had ridden in the speeder with him that morning, and two officers in ISB uniforms. One of them was on a comlink, confirming Ophelia's presence in the palace to the person on the other end. Soon, there were at least four conversations going on between the various adults, and Luke looked around the room, seeing his friends were all as confused and unsettled as he was.</p><p>"So … should we stay here?" Luke asked.</p><p>"I'd recommend we get these young people moved away from the windows, Commander," a guard said, speaking to Commander Julius. "Up on level 8 would be best."</p><p>"Agreed," she said. "Go ahead and move them to the conference room on level 8."</p><p>Lev walked around the table to stand beside Luke, just as more royal guards arrived. They moved to place themselves in front of the transparisteel wall, and one of them asked Juno and Ophelia to pack up their belongings. Greein and Ben were hastily sweeping their datapads into their school bags.</p><p>"It's all right. This is just precautionary," Lev said, reaching out to put a hand on the side of Luke's shoulder. "Commander Julius is the highest ranking security officer in the palace right now, and she's asked Captain Baryuth and his squad to look after your friends. Your father is at MHQ at the moment, and I've already told him you are safe."</p><p>Luke glanced over at Ben, who was now flanked by two royal guards. "Ben, is your father on duty?"</p><p>"No, he's at home tonight," Ben said, sounding nervous. "He said he was going to make pasta for dinner."</p><p>"I'll try and get a message to him when I can," Lev said, in a soothing tone. "All communication lines are currently reserved for military purposes, but as soon as the situation changes, I'll make sure all your parents are contacted."</p><p>"What about my father?" Ophelia asked, frowning. "Does he think I've been kidnapped?"</p><p>"ISB command are in communication with your family," Commander Julius confirmed. "They'll keep him updated."</p><p>Moving them all up to level 8 took ages, as they wanted to take everyone individually, beginning with Ophelia. Lev had to leave shortly afterwards, as he was receiving multiple comlink calls, but Commander Julius remained to supervise the entire operation. When his turn came, Luke was sure to bring the two snack bowls.</p><p>The room they were shifted to was also a meeting room with a long table, but there were no windows and four exits. Ophelia and Greein had been moved first, and they were sitting silently. Luke immediately went to turn on the HoloNet, but the royal guard captain took the remote away from him.</p><p>"I would prefer it if you didn't watch the HoloNet at this time. The images might be upsetting."</p><p>"You're kidding me?" Luke said. "Can we at least put it on a music channel?"</p><p>"Not at present."</p><p>"I don't believe this," Luke said, just as the doors opened again, this time for Juno's arrival.</p><p>"He's right, Luke," Greein said, inclining his head towards Ophelia.</p><p>"I would rather have the HoloNet," Ophelia said. "I want to see what this kidnapped girl looks like."</p><p>Luke rubbed his head, wondering who she was. What if she wasn't famous or wealthy at all, and these Liberator people discovered that?</p><p>Ben arrived soon after, but eight royal guards remained in the room, standing on either side of the four doors. It felt a little like being held prisoner. Captain Baryuth was standing at the door behind him, and Luke swiveled his chair around to face him.</p><p>"Can we at least get some more food up here? Some pizza maybe?"</p><p>"That is acceptable. I'll summon a serving droid."</p><p>"Can we have dessert as well?" Juno asked.</p><p>"You can have anything here," Luke said. "It's the Imperial Palace. Go crazy."</p><p>"Beer?" Greein suggested, smirking.</p><p>"No alcohol," the royal guard captain said, using a sharp tone that caused Luke to roll his eyes. Greein had clearly been joking.</p><p>His friends didn't need any encouragement, and soon the table was filled with all kinds of food and drink. Ophelia and Greein got into an involved discussion about exotic pizza flavours from their respective homeworlds, and Luke offered some to the guards, but apparently they weren't allowed to eat while on duty. Luke picked up a slice that was mostly cheese, and then noticed Juno was trying to get his attention from the chair beside his. Once he met her gaze, she looked down at her lap.</p><p>Catching on, Luke shuffled closer, and saw she'd managed to bring up the HoloNet on a personal viewscreen. But the main HoloNet news channel was filled with a weather report.</p><p>Luke sighed, guessing they had implemented the 'everything is all fine here now' news broadcast they reserved for the worst disasters. Fortunately, he knew a few alternative channels where you could occasionally get slightly more accurate news. He carefully slid the viewscreen over to his own lap, and worked on it while pretending to be focused on the pizza.</p><p>Soon, he found a news story about the kidnapping and scrolled through it, growing increasingly shocked as he saw how brazen the kidnappers had been. The cafe was filled with patrons, and three droids had popped up out of nowhere and surrounded the girl.</p><p>He looked across the table, seeing Ophelia was watching him. He pointed down at the floor, and then placed the viewscreen by his foot and kicked it across.</p><p>Unfortunately, as soon as Ophelia picked it up and saw the image of the girl, the game was up.</p><p>"She looks nothing like me!" Ophelia said, putting it on the table. "I don't believe this!"</p><p>Greein leaned over to look. "Come on. She looked a <em>little</em> like you."</p><p>"The only thing we have in common is that we're both human. She's shorter and her hair is much darker. That's a strawberry blonde."</p><p>"Just say it, Ophelia," Juno said, rolling her eyes. "She's not as pretty as you. It's okay, you can admit it. You're so shallow you're offended they kidnapped someone less attractive than you by mistake."</p><p>"Shut your face," Ophelia said, shoving the viewscreen away. "Oh wait, you can't. You're too busy stuffing your tenth slice of pizza down your trap."</p><p>Juno threw her remaining slice across the table, but it didn't quite reach Ophelia. The guard captain stepped forward.</p><p>"Give me that, please," he said, pointing at the viewscreen.</p><p>No one moved for a moment, and then Luke sighed, standing up to retrieve it.</p><p>"I said no HoloNet," the guard admonished, as Luke handed it to him.</p><p>"It's not mine!" Luke protested, staring up at the reflective red helmet.</p><p>"Who owns it is irrelevant. You were all looking at it."</p><p>"I wasn't!" Ben protested, from his place beside Greein, down the end.</p><p>"And don't throw food!" the captain added.</p><p>Luke tapped his fingers on the table. "How long are we going to be stuck in here, anyway? It's been ages."</p><p>"Yeah, there's nothing to do but eat," Juno complained.</p><p>"Maybe I could go and get my gamebox from my room," Luke said, looking at the holovid screen.</p><p>"There will be no leaving this room for the time being," Captain Baryuth said. He sounded weary.</p><p>"Then can one of your squad go and get it?" Luke asked.</p><p>The guards moved their heads in the way they often did when communicating with each other on their internal helmet comlink channel, and then the captain said, "We would require Lord Vader's permission."</p><p>Luke groaned. If only he had Threepio or Artoo with him. They'd been in here over an hour already, and who knew when he'd finally be allowed to return to his room.</p><p>"It's all right, Luke," Greein said, ever cheerful. "I know a game we can play to pass the time. You know that game where someone thinks of a word and everyone else guesses letters?"</p><p>"Word detonator," Juno said, nodding. "And they have to guess the word before the thermal detonator explodes."</p><p>Greein nodded. "It's like that, except …" He paused to look around at the guards, and then gestured for them to gather in closer. Ben remained apart when they did so. "Except the word has to be something associated with the body of the opposite gender," Greein finished, in a hushed tone. "You can do any species."</p><p>"Gross," Ophelia said, frowning.</p><p>"No, it sounds funny," Juno said, smirking.</p><p>Luke hoped he wasn't blushing.</p><p>"The rules are … you're allowed one clue in exchange for two lines on the detonator, and no slang. Proper names for everything."</p><p>"I'll go first," Juno said, picking up Greein's viewscreen. She brought up a drawing screen and then propped it up at the top end so everyone could see the projected image. Soon, they were all taking turns to guess letters in two five letter words. When it came to Ben's turn, he gestured to Greein and mumbled, "You go ahead. I'm working on my math assignment."</p><p>"You're doing homework?" Greein said, incredulous.</p><p>Ben shrugged.</p><p>Greein stared at him a moment longer, and then turned back to the viewscreen, deciding to leave it.</p><p>Ophelia eventually correctly guessed 'cheek tusks' and then for her turn, she did a five letter word that Luke eventually guessed as 'beard'.</p><p>"That's not even a male only body part," Juno said. "Female bothans can have beards!"</p><p>"No one asked for the clue," Ophelia said, handing the lightpen to Luke. "If they had, I'd have said it doesn't apply to bothans or wookiees."</p><p>"Okay, let's just … play the next round," Luke said, staring at the blank screen. "Uh …"</p><p>"Ha, he's blushing," Greein said.</p><p>"I am not!" Luke protested. "I'm just trying to figure out how to spell it."</p><p>"Think carefully now," Ophelia said, smirking.</p><p>Luke rubbed his face, idly wondering how he'd ended up in this situation. Eventually he drew out spaces for five letters and pointed to Juno to start the guessing. Four rounds later, just when Luke was about to add the last line that would explode the thermal detonator, Ben happened to glance up and then he said, "Is it ovary?"</p><p>"Oh, stars," Greein said, letting his head fall on the table.</p><p>"You're not even playing!" Juno said, pointing at Ben.</p><p>"How could you choose the least interesting part of a woman's body?" Greein asked.</p><p>"Least interesting?" Ophelia asked. "What do you have against ovaries? Luke, I'm impressed you know what that is."</p><p>"I paid attention in that class!" Luke insisted.</p><p>"Then why didn't you choose something else?" Greein asked, smirking.</p><p>Luke tried to pass the lightpen to Ben, but he handed it to Greein, causing the girls to groan.</p><p>As soon as Greein drew out the spaces, Luke began to get a bad feeling about this. It only grew worse as they went around and a few consonants began to fill in. After Ophelia named the letter which made it all too obvious what it was, she raised an eyebrow, looking at Greein. "As if you would even know where to find that on a woman's body."</p><p>Greein smirked. "I paid attention in that class too."</p><p>"Is this game really the best you can do?" Captain Baryuth asked. He'd gone from weariness to sounding like he was on the verge of quitting his entire career.</p><p>"Hey, I just did ovary!" Luke protested.</p><p>Just as he said the word ovary, the double doors behind Ophelia slid open with a loud hiss, revealing the towering shape of a Dark Lord of the Sith. In his scramble to push the viewscreen face-down on the table, Luke smeared leftover pizza across his school blazer, and nearly knocked over Juno's glass of soda.</p><p>Ophelia spun around on her chair and then quickly stood up, while Juno just seemed frozen. But the most dramatic reaction by far was from Greein, who made a small squealing noise and then his mouth moved like he was talking, but there was no sound.</p><p>His father stepped into the room and looked around, while the royal guards all straightened to attention. Luke quickly moved around the table, just as Greein managed to choke out, "Lord Vader! It's … it's been my dream to actually meet you!"</p><p>"Okay, calm down," Luke said, skidding in between Greein and his father. "Everyone, this is … my dad. Uh … you know Ben and Ophelia, and that's Greein Morta-Clan and Juno Lilano."</p><p>His father didn't look at his friends. He merely pointed from Luke to the corridor. "Come."</p><p>"Good idea," Luke mumbled under his breath.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Once they were in relative privacy, his father glanced at the doors into the meeting room, and then turned back to Luke.</p><p>"Why are you hosting so many of your classmates? Is there some occasion I am unaware of?"</p><p>"That's my biology project team," Luke said. "Remember? The project you <em>tossed into the trash</em> this morning?"</p><p>"I recall."</p><p>"We were just doing the final planning before we redo the experiments over the weekend. They were supposed to leave ages ago, and then all this happened. Have you found the kidnappers yet?"</p><p>"No. Several leads have led to dead ends, and now search teams are focusing on Imperial City. This will likely continue for some hours."</p><p>Luke slumped. "Then can I at least take them upstairs to play holo games in my room? The guards won't let us have the HoloNet."</p><p>"That sounds like it will result in general disorder and chaos interrupting my nighttime meditation."</p><p>"Well, they wouldn't even be here if you hadn't destroyed my—"</p><p>His father raised a hand. "Very well. You can discuss the security arrangements for a move to your bedroom with Commander Julius. But first, I suggest you accompany Miss Halifax to the military command office where she can speak with her father on a priority channel. I have alerted the officers to your pending arrival."</p><p>Just the thought of getting out of the room made Luke brighten up considerably.</p><p>"Okay! Are you going back to ISB?"</p><p>"For the moment."</p><p>Luke nodded and went back through the doors to call Ophelia. His other friends were quickly cleaning the table, and Juno had thankfully cleared off the viewscreen.</p><p>"My father said I can go with you to the military command office downstairs," Luke said, gesturing for Ophelia to join him. "You can talk to your father there."</p><p>Ophelia immediately tossed the pizza tray back on the table and walked quickly after him.</p><p>"Maybe he can send someone to pick me up!" she said, sounding excited at the idea.</p><p>"Is it that bad here?" Luke asked, smiling.</p><p>"You really want me to answer that?"</p><p>Two royal guards were following behind them, and they gestured for them to wait so they could enter the elevator first. When they stepped out into the administration floor, it was just as busy as it was during the daytime, and the guards had to gesture for some officers to stand back so they could allow them through.</p><p>Lev was pacing back and forth in the military command office, speaking on a headset, and he immediately took it off when he saw them.</p><p>"Welcome. We're all set up in the comms room, just through here."</p><p>Luke sat down at Lev's desk, giving Ophelia some privacy while she spoke to her father. There were several empty caf mugs in a row, waiting for a serving droid to come and collect them. When Lev returned from the comms room, he came over to talk to him, and Luke noticed how tired he looked. He must have been at work nearly twelve hours by now.</p><p>"How's it going upstairs?" he asked. "Are your friends behaving themselves?"</p><p>"Well … no one has cried yet," Luke said. "But I might be the first if it goes on much longer. Do you think they'll find them tonight?"</p><p>"Who knows. But you should probably prepare for a sleepover."</p><p>"Right now, they've got us all in a meeting room and they won't let us watch the HoloNet."</p><p>"There's nothing to see."</p><p>"So when do you get to go home?" Luke asked.</p><p>"When the city traffic lanes open up again. But … we do have some bunkrooms down here. I've got a few of the ensigns resting up. I'm doing better than Hicks. He's stuck with his possible future in-laws right now."</p><p>The doors to the office opened again, and Commander Julius walked in, carrying a datapad.</p><p>"This one's for you, I think," she said, passing it to Lev. She then did a double take at the sight of Luke. "Cupcake! Aren't you supposed to be upstairs?!"</p><p>"My father said I could come down with Ophelia so she could call her father," Luke said, gesturing at the comms room.</p><p>"Oh. That must have been on that activity feed I haven't had a chance to read," she said. "Everything okay up there?"</p><p>"No. Captain Baryuth won't let us watch the HoloNet. Can I take them up to my room to play games?"</p><p>"Your father will need to approve that."</p><p>"He has. Then he said to ask you about the security arrangements."</p><p>She stared at the ceiling, while Lev read over the datapad she had brought. Then he said, "There's a double outer shield and multiple TIE fighter patrols. Reinforced transparisteel on all the windows. They'll be fine."</p><p>"I guess we can't keep them in that meeting room all night," she said. "How many guest rooms do you have up there?"</p><p>"Several," Luke said. "But when Ben sleeps over, he usually just bunks down in my room on one of those air mattresses from the military supply room. Greein will probably be okay with that. I don't know about the girls."</p><p>"I don't think you could expect a Grand Moff's daughter to sleep on an air mattress on your bedroom floor, no," Lev said.</p><p>"Don't suggest it, or it will get back to her father," Commander Julius said.</p><p>Lev's comlink beeped again, and he put his headset back on, wandering away from the desk.</p><p>"I'm leaning towards yes, but I'll discuss your plans with Captain Baryuth before giving my final answer," Commander Julius said.</p><p>"Oh, stars," Luke said, hoping the royal guard captain wouldn't make his judgement based on what he'd seen so far. "If he happens to mention a game we were playing … just so you know, it wasn't my idea."</p><p>She raised an eyebrow. "You weren't playing anything that involved kissing, were you?"</p><p>"No!"</p><p>She smiled. "All right, no need to blush, Cupcake."</p><p>When she turned to leave, Luke slumped down with his head in his arms on the desk, glad to have a moment of peace and quiet. It was ironic … often he felt too alone when it was just him in his bedroom for hours. But four people was too much, especially with Ben in a mood and Ophelia and Juno glaring daggers at each other.</p><p>Some time later, the doors to the comms room opened, and Luke glanced up. Ophelia walked quickly out, her expression neutral.</p><p>"How was he?" Luke asked. "Freaking out over your safety?"</p><p>"He's fine," she said stiffly. "He's glad I'm here, actually, as he said the Imperial Palace security was second to none." She looked aside. "So what now? We going back upstairs to crazy town?"</p><p>Luke frowned, hearing something in her voice she was fighting hard to suppress.</p><p>"Are you okay?"</p><p>She glared back at him. "What? Of course I'm okay." Even as she said the word, a tear rolled down her cheek, and Luke quickly pulled over a box of tissues.</p><p>"How about you just sit here for a bit with me," he said carefully. "No rush to go back."</p><p>She ripped a tissue out of the box and dabbed at her eyes, before tossing it aside. Then she sat down hard in the chair, causing it to squeak.</p><p>"I guess you'd rather be at home with your family right now," Luke said.</p><p>She shook her head. "It's not that. My father … he told me some things he'd heard from ISB. It's too much of a coincidence that they would deliberately target me, and they think they asked Sunny for ideas about who else would be a valuable target. That cafe where they took the girl from? I usually meet a woman there around this time. She used to be my nanny when I was little."</p><p>Luke frowned. "So he told them where they might find you?"</p><p>She shrugged. "ISB suggested they would have tortured him to get information."</p><p>"I just wish they'd find them already," Luke said, looking down.</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>They sat in silence for a bit, Luke fidgeting with one of the empty caf mugs, and Ophelia playing with a stress toy she'd found beside the monitor. Then, she said, "Do you remember that thing you said when we first found out he'd been kidnapped?"</p><p>"I'm sorry about that."</p><p>"I thought the same thing."</p><p>Luke stared in confusion.</p><p>She met his gaze then. "No matter what you've heard that made you say that, I know much worse."</p><p>"So you did dump him?" Luke asked.</p><p>She shook her head. "No. I should have. When we first started going out, he was so adoring and funny and he introduced me to all his famous friends like I was someone he was proud to be with. But then, a month in, he started saying things. Just little things at first."</p><p>"What things?"</p><p>"Mostly about the music or holovid shows I liked. Suggesting they were bad, or shallow, or I had 'unrefined tastes'. Little remarks designed to make me doubt myself. Then one day he said he hoped I knew he was dating down. The next week, it was that I needed to lose weight. Once he said he hoped I appreciated that he was smarter than me."</p><p>Luke cringed. "He told a thirteen year old fan that he'd invite her to his hotel if she'd do something about her natural skin pattern. Thirteen! There were Hutts on Tatooine less gross than him."</p><p>She nodded. "He often treated fans badly. But I ignored it. I ignored a lot of things. He wanted me to spend all my social time with him and not speak to my friends. He wanted access to my comlink to be sure I wasn't communicating with other guys. He refused to meet my family. His mother called me a spoiled gold digging social climber the first time we met, and he just laughed."</p><p>"I can't believe you put up with this."</p><p>"I can't either. But … it started good and then became worse so gradually I didn't notice. I thought he'd be just like the person I'd seen on the HoloNet. Maybe I dreamed about being a HoloNet celebrity too." She shook her head. "He used to send a droid over to bring me flowers. He sent the same droid to tell me I was dumped. It was a hard lesson. Men can be trash."</p><p>"Don't give up on men just because of one sleemo," Luke said, indignant. "Am I trash? Is Ben trash? Is Greein … well, just overlook that stupid game."</p><p>She smiled. "Speaking of Charity Case … what's up with you and him? You're normally inseparable, and he's barely said a word to you."</p><p>"It's a long story," Luke said.</p><p>"We've got time."</p><p>Luke found himself feeling curious as to what Ophelia might say about the situation, so he went through the sorry story, starting with the afternoon they'd been caught practicing shooting in the hangar bay. She listened quietly, nodding in understanding now and then.</p><p>"This is the problem when you put someone average in a private school with people like us," she said. "Of course they'll end up feeling like they're not good enough."</p><p>"Ben is a great friend and the smartest person I know," Luke said. "He's more than good enough. I will never understand why you think how much money and power someone has says anything about them as a person. Didn't Sunny show how wrong that is?"</p><p>"I don't think there's anything <em>wrong</em> with average people," she said. "The problems only start when they get jealous and angry about what they don't have. That happens when they are put into environments where what they don't have is constantly put in front of them. Isn't that exactly what's gone wrong with your friendship with Ben?"</p><p>Luke felt a pang of frustration then. He wanted to prove Ophelia wrong, but he was too tired to argue.</p><p>"Let's head back," he said. "Commander Julius was going to let me take you all up to my room so we can play holo games. There's plenty of guest rooms up there too so you can just hang out in one of those if you prefer."</p><p>"That depends on what kind of games you have," she said.</p><p>Luke smiled. "Puppy-Droid Racer?"</p><p>"You don't seriously own that? Wait, what am I saying. Of course you do."</p><p>"It's cute. My astromech droid loves it. Especially when he finds a diamond bone and can blow up all the mutant fleas."</p><p>"This is going to be a long night," Ophelia sighed.</p><hr/><p>The royal guards seemed just as relieved as they were to be getting out of the meeting room. Commander Julius had come up with a new plan for the night in collaboration with Captain Baryuth, and they'd set aside three rooms where they could post guards outside as needed. Luke's bedroom, and two guest rooms further down the hall, near the elevator.</p><p>Lev arrived shortly after Luke and Ophelia had returned, accompanied by a couple of palace protocol droids who could assist with finding all the supplies needed for four unexpected overnight guests. They all seemed to be taking it well, apart from Ben, who was still working on his homework and ignoring the buzz of activity.</p><p>"Luke, do you think your dad will come back?" Greein asked.</p><p>"I hope not," Juno said, adding something to the list of requests for the droids. "I had no idea your dad was so scary, Luke. It's like he's surrounded by an aura of death."</p><p>"That's exactly what I've always said," Ben said, glancing up.</p><p>"May I suggest that no one refer to Lord Vader as Luke's 'dad' in his presence?" Lev said. "Luke may get away with that occasionally, but I wouldn't guarantee anyone else would."</p><p>"So how are we supposed to address him?" Greein asked.</p><p>"'My lord' or 'sir' is appropriate," Lev said. "But I wouldn't recommend speaking to him unless he asks you a question first."</p><p>"Yes, <em>Greein</em>," Ophelia said.</p><p>"But I was just so excited to meet him!" Greein said. "I still can't believe he was actually <em>here</em>."</p><p>"The Emperor's here too," Luke said. "But he's always up in the towers and no one ever sees him."</p><p>"Don't tell him that, or next thing he'll be trying to sneak up there and say hello," Ophelia said.</p><p>"No, I mean, all respect to the Emperor, but Lord Vader is amazing," Greein said. "Did you know he can just point at objects and move them through the air with his mind?"</p><p>Juno rolled her eyes. "Who told you that one?"</p><p>"It's true! I swear, it's true! Also, he has a <em>lightsaber</em>. Hey, Luke! Do you know where he keeps it?"</p><p>"<em>Please</em> don't tell him," Ophelia said.</p><p>Luke smiled. "It's on his left, hanging from his belt."</p><p>"Does he ever let you turn it on and swing it around?"</p><p>"No," Luke said, flexing his artificial hand.</p><p>"If he was my dad, I'd be asking him every day if I could," Greein said.</p><p>"I can tell," Lev said, patting Greein's shoulder as he walked past. "Luke, let me know if there are any problems."</p><p>"Thanks, Lev."</p><p>Four royal guards accompanied them in the elevators, so it took two trips, but it was a relief to see them remain in the corridor outside the room instead of inside. Luke went in first, hastily tossing a towel into the laundry compartment and putting his model T-16 away. Greein and Juno wandered around his room, looking at all the pictures, while Ophelia turned on the HoloNet.</p><p>A short time later, the droids returned with air mattresses, bedding, pillows, and towels, and Luke set up a pillow nest in front of the holovid. No one protested when he loaded up Puppy-Droid Racer, and soon Greein and Juno were laughing as they raced their little droid puppy avatars around the track, picking up bonus bones and dodging fleas. Even Ben was lured out of his mood enough to take over from Greein when he went to the refresher, and Ophelia joined in when Luke found his extra controllers.</p><p>An hour later, Luke happened to glance over, and he noticed Juno was busy making up an air mattress alongside his study desk.</p><p>"You don't have to sleep in here," he said. "There's two guest rooms down the hall. I was told to let the guards know when you shift down there so they'll send up another two for the door."</p><p>"I don't want to sleep in a room by myself," Juno said, her eyes wide. "There are kidnappers loose in the city."</p><p>"There's no way they could possibly get in here," Luke said.</p><p>Juno still looked anxious.</p><p>"She's scared of Lord Vader," Ophelia said, causing Juno to glare in her direction.</p><p>"I am not!"</p><p>Luke was about to suggest she and Ophelia share a room, and then he realized immediately that was a bad idea.</p><p>"Besides, this is really comfy," Juno said, flopping back on the mattress. "Ophelia can have a guest room. She'd faint if she had to sleep on an air mattress."</p><p>"You know <em>nothing </em>about me," Ophelia said.</p><p>"Okay," Luke said, raising his hands. "Well, if everyone is going to bunk down in here then I'll need to get the droids to bring more bedding."</p><p>"Go ahead," Ophelia said. "Get a mattress for me."</p><p>"Are you sure?" Luke said. "There's a really nice guest room—"</p><p>Ophelia just glared at him, folding her arms, and Luke backed away. "I'll get them to come up now."</p><p>"Can we have more snacks, too?" Greein asked. He was furiously trying to beat off a flea, while Ben was way ahead on the track.</p><p>Luke obliged, and the droids soon returned with more bedding and a selection of snack food and drinks. His bedroom was looking like a sandstorm had been through it by now, but at least no one was crying.</p><p>He dragged his study desk over to beside his bed, making more room for Juno, and used it to organise the glasses and bowls. When he turned around to ask Greein what drink he wanted, he found Ophelia was rifling through his clothing drawers.</p><p>"Ophelia!"</p><p>She pulled out a pair of bright orange pyjamas with silver polka dots. "Where did you find these monstrosities?" she asked.</p><p>"Put those back," Luke said.</p><p>"I need to find something to wear to sleep," she said. "Stars, look at these." She pulled out a pair of tan pyjamas with banthas. "This is like something a kid would wear."</p><p>"I no longer fit those!" Luke protested.</p><p>Then she rummaged deeper and pulled out a black t-shirt. She actually smiled when she saw what was written on the front.</p><p>"Ha! This is actually pretty funny." She turned it around to show the others, who all snickered when they saw the words. <em>You think you've got problems? My father is a Sith Lord!</em></p><p>"I wish my parents were Sith Lords," Greein said.</p><p>"No, you don't," Luke said, moving over to take the shirt from Ophelia. He tossed it towards his bed, and then opened up a different drawer. "You can find some more t-shirts in there."</p><p>"My folks are so boring," Greein said. "Their entire day is controlled by their scheduling assistants."</p><p>"My father can be plenty boring too," Luke said.</p><p>"Never."</p><p>"All those things you've heard about … the lightsaber duels, the space battles, the epic ground invasions … that's only a small fraction of what he actually does. Some days he just reads reports and then meditates on the nature of the Force."</p><p>Greein's holographic droid puppy ran into a puddle then, and made a whimpering noise, before pausing to shake.</p><p>"Come on, that puddle was tiny!" Greein complained.</p><p>"He's only a little guy," Juno said. "You're supposed to jump over those puddles."</p><p>A chorus of celebratory barks sounded as Ben's puppy trotted over the line, and Greein's one rolled over in defeat.</p><p>"Can we play something that wasn't meant for five-year-olds now?" Greein asked, putting his controller aside. "Speaking of epic battles, have you got Haunted Forest?"</p><p>"Yes, I couldn't get past the second level and gave up," Luke said, holding out the two soda bottles for Greein to choose. "Maybe you can figure it out."</p><p>He was halfway through filling up Greein's glass with the selected drink, when the refresher doors opened, and Ophelia stepped out. Greein and Ben immediately turned to stare, causing Luke to glance over as well. She was now wearing the Sith Lord t-shirt, which fit her surprisingly well, and a pair of black and red boxer shorts that Luke remembered buying some time ago.</p><p>"Ha! Nice," Greein said.</p><p>"Are you wearing <em>my</em> <em>underwear</em>?" Luke said, aghast.</p><p>"Relax, you hadn't even cut the tags off yet," Ophelia said. "Besides, they're comfy. Why is boy's underwear so much more comfortable?"</p><p>"Is there another pair I can wear?" Juno asked.</p><p>Ophelia tossed her a second identical pair. "It was in a two-pack."</p><p>Luke covered his face, wondering if having his female classmates wear his underwear was going to be one of his most embarrassing memories from his teen years. Greein just patted him on the back.</p><p>"Don't worry, Luke. I definitely won't tell everyone at school about this."</p><p>When Juno returned from the refresher, now wearing the second pair of boxers and a t-shirt with an astromech droid on the front, she crawled over Luke's bed to avoid walking in front of the holovid. Then she discovered Ophelia was on the other side of it, attempting to make up her own bed.</p><p>"Ha!" she said, pointing. "You've never made a bed in your life, have you?"</p><p>Luke turned around and could see what Juno meant. Ophelia had attempted to stuff the base sheet under without folding the corners properly, and now it had slipped out on one side and bunched up on the other.</p><p>"Shut your nosy face," Ophelia said.</p><p>"Luke!" Juno said. "You need to summon the palace servants to make Princess Ophelia's bed!"</p><p>In response, Ophelia picked up a bowl of popcorn on the study desk, and upended it all over Juno's neatly made bed. Then, all hell broke loose as Juno screamed in anger and flew at Ophelia, claws extended. The two of them tumbled back over Ophelia's badly made bed, sending another bowl of popcorn scattering all over the floor.</p><p>"Woo! Girl fight!" Greein said, just as Luke dived to separate them. He'd just managed to drag Juno back, when he lost his own balance and fell onto Ophelia's bed, knocking her back in the process. Then, the doors slid open, and the two royal guards barged in, pikes extended.</p><p>"Perfect!" Luke said, scrambling back to his feet. "Give me that!"</p><p>He attempted to grab the pike from the nearest guard, but the man stepped back, and stumbled over Greein's drink. It splashed all over the bottom of his red robes and pooled on the carpet. The second guard moved to restrain Juno, but she picked up a handful of popcorn and tossed it at his helmet.</p><p>"Don't do that!" Ophelia said, shoving Juno sideways. Luke grabbed the back of the shirt in both hands to hold her back. This caused her to step back onto some of the spilt popcorn in her bare feet, resulting in some loud swearing.</p><p>"Ophelia!" Greein said, grinning. He was trying to soak up the spreading pool of soda with a towel. "I didn't even know you <em>knew</em> those words."</p><p>"I don't believe this," Luke said, looking around at the general chaos. And to think he actually grew up wishing he wasn't an only child.</p><p>Any further internal lamenting was ended by the sound of artificial breathing in the doorway. The guards turned around and straightened to attention. His father looked from the one with a spreading soda stain on his robes, to the other, who still had pieces of popcorn clinging to his tunic, and then stepped to one side and gestured for them to leave the room. They seemed only too eager to do so.</p><p>When his father re-entered the room, the girls immediately fell silent. Greein popped up from the floor and appeared in front of him before Luke could stop him.</p><p>"Lord Vader, sir! I've always wanted to see a real life lightsaber. I've read all the old history books about them and it would mean everything to me if I could just see one and hear the sound it makes when—"</p><p>"Young man," his father said, in one of his more quiet, dangerous tones. "The sight of my lightsaber is also a sign of your imminent death."</p><p>Ophelia was closer to Greein than Luke, and she carefully navigated the fallen popcorn, and then grabbed him by the back of his tunic, tugging him back from the potential source of his imminent death. Unfortunately, during this movement, his father got a good look at her current attire.</p><p>"Miss Halifax," he said, still in the same tone. "Unless you want me to adopt you, I suggest you change immediately."</p><p>"Can you adopt me?" Greein suggested, even as Ophelia quickly pushed him back towards where Ben was crouched down behind a beanbag. She paused to grab a replacement t-shirt on the way.</p><p>Finally, he turned his gaze towards Luke, who quickly raised his hands. "This isn't as bad as it looks."</p><p><em>Come with me</em>, his father sent, over their mental link. Then he turned around, striding back out the door.</p><p>Luke sighed, and then pointed at Greein. "Just make sure the girls don't fight while I'm gone."</p><p>"Sure thing, Luke," Greein said, smirking.</p><p>Luke moved quickly after his father, deciding the best plan would be to get this lecture over with as soon as possible.</p><p>When he entered the corridor, he found his father had dismissed the guards entirely, and was now waiting a few meters past the door. His arms were folded across his front in an interrogative way.</p><p>"Were you boys fighting?" he asked.</p><p>"Boys? I was breaking up a fight between the girls!"</p><p>"Why are the girls in your room? Move them to a guest room immediately."</p><p>"They didn't want to be alone."</p><p>"There are two of them."</p><p>"If they're in a room alone together, only one will be alive in the morning!"</p><p>"It is not appropriate to have young women in your bedroom at your age."</p><p>"Listen, I don't know what teenage Jedi got up to in this place, but the only thing the boys are doing in there is playing holovid games, while I try and stop a civil war breaking out between the girls."</p><p>His father breathed for a few cycles, and then said, "Perhaps you do need a weapon."</p><p>Luke smirked. "If you're offering me your lightsaber, I wouldn't say no."</p><p>"I can assist in a less lethal way."</p><p>"At this point, I'll try anything," Luke said. "Just please don't embarrass me. <em>Please</em>."</p><p>"I thought that was my job."</p><p>Luke raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"I will also send Artoo to assist you. The stress will be too much for Threepio."</p><p>"Yes, Artoo would help," Luke agreed.</p><p>He had a feeling he might be making a mistake, but regardless, he led his father back to his room. The others were quickly trying to make the room look a little less like a thermal detonator loaded with popcorn had gone off. Ophelia was now dressed in a more respectable shirt with the Galactic Bandits logo on the back. They stopped what they were doing at the return of his father, and Ben and Juno began to shift away.</p><p>"Fall in, all of you," his father ordered, gesturing to the space in front of him.</p><p>What followed was a messy scramble in which it became clear not all of them knew what was meant by 'fall in', as Ben tried to sneak into the refresher, and Juno somehow imagined she could blend into the corner. But after some urging from Greein, they were soon in something vaguely resembling a line.</p><p>"Now," his father said. "You will finish cleaning this room and then be in bed with the lights and holovid off by 22-hundred. There will be no more junk food and no more fighting."</p><p>The others all managed a 'yes, sir', sounding suitably contrite.</p><p>"I will be across the hall. If I hear one more hint of misbehavior coming from this room, the perpetrator will be spending some time in the brig. Am I clear?"</p><p>The others responded with another round of 'yes, sirs', now sounding terrified.</p><p>"Dismissed."</p><p>They turned back to resume cleaning up the popcorn, and his father left them alone, causing Juno and Ben to sigh with relief.</p><p>"Where's the brig?" Greein asked, sounding more interested than he should.</p><p>"There is no brig!" Luke said. He considered it, and then said, "At least … I'm pretty sure there's no brig in the palace. There is a detention center near the main ISB office."</p><p>"Let's just not find out where the brig is," Ben said.</p><p>"Yes, good idea," Luke agreed, sweeping a tray of popcorn into the trash. Ophelia was doing a pretty good job cleaning it, so he decided to be kind and make her bed properly for her, and soon it was looking much better. He finished by putting one of the Imperial Flag blankets over the top, and then checked on Greein's progress. He and Ben were laying out their own beds in the space in front of the holovid, leaving a path through to reach the refresher.</p><p>Just when the room was reaching a respectable state again, the doors slid open, and there was an immediate intake of breath from his friends. But it was only Artoo on the other side, chirping away.</p><p>"Boy, am I glad to see you," Luke said, relieved. "Artoo, these are my friends. You know Ben. That's Juno, Ophelia and Greein."</p><p>Artoo beeped in greeting, and then rolled over to Luke's side, making a questioning whistle.</p><p>"Everything's okay right now," he said. "And … we've got a bit of time before he said we have to go to sleep."</p><p>"Haunted Forest?" Greein suggested. He was busy going through Luke's game collection.</p><p>The droid nudged Luke's leg and beeped out his own suggestion, and Luke smiled, patting his dome. "Sorry, buddy, you missed Puppy Racer. But plug yourself in and you can play as the haunted mouse droid."</p><p>Artoo made a derisive chirp.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Soon, things were peaceful again, and Artoo dimmed the lights so they were able to see the projector better. Everyone was more or less in their bed, and the only one without a game controller was Ophelia, who was happy just to watch. The game involved a team of special ops forces making their way through various levels of a haunted forest, using an armory of weapons found in hidden locations throughout the level. Unfortunately the game's designers didn't let you return to the middle of a level, and they were nearly at the end when the chronometer went past 22-hundred.</p><p>"Didn't he say we had to have the holovid off now?" Ophelia asked.</p><p>"We can finish this level now if someone can just make that jump and hit the target to release the door," Luke said, twisting his controller sideways while he dodged an incoming projectile.</p><p>"I can do it," Greein said, launching his avatar up to a tree platform. The shot had to be made while leaping in mid-air between two of the platforms, while your teammates kept the zombie acklay at bay. Greein made a pretty good attempt, but fell down to land beside Luke and his shot went too low.</p><p>"Let me," Juno said, putting down the cup of popcorn she'd saved. "Just keep those projectiles away."</p><p>The zombie acklay could spit acid projectiles made of saliva.</p><p>Unfortunately, just as she performed the leap and began shooting, a spit projectile came flying right towards her, and she had to drop back down.</p><p>"Ben, you want to try?" Luke asked.</p><p>"Why are you even asking me?" Ben said. "You know you can do it."</p><p>"I don't <em>know</em> I can do it," Luke said, annoyed. "I couldn't even get through this level last time."</p><p>"Just do it and turn it off before your father comes back," Ophelia said, sounding anxious.</p><p>She had a point. Now wasn't the time to argue. Luke leaped his avatar over Greein's head and lined up the tree platform jump, while taking note of the position of the door target. He waited for the projectile that had thwarted Juno's attempt to pass by, and then made the jump, aiming straight at the target. It lit up green as his blaster bolt hit it straight on, and Greein whooped with pleasure.</p><p>Then, just as Luke landed, a massive explosion engulfed them all, and the sad music of failure filled the speakers.</p><p>"What the?" Greein said. "Did some spit slip through?"</p><p>"That wasn't from the acklay," Juno said. "That was a thermal detonator."</p><p>"Who set one of those off?" Greein said. "I didn't have any left."</p><p>"Neither," said Juno.</p><p>Everyone looked at Ben. He shrugged. "Uh … maybe my finger slipped on the button."</p><p>Luke felt a rush of annoyance. "What?! You did that on purpose!"</p><p>"I did not!"</p><p>"You did!" Luke said, tossing the controller down on the floor. "Your jealousy is completely out of control!"</p><p>"Let's just turn it off," Greein sighed.</p><p>Luke picked up the remote, turning the projector black, and then he crawled back up the bed to get under the covers. Juno remained standing in the middle of the floor, trying to finish her cup of popcorn.</p><p>"I just don't understand what you want," Luke said, unwilling to let it go. "Do you want me to be useless at everything?"</p><p>"Yes, actually," Ben said. "You being useless at <em>anything</em> would be great. Anything at all."</p><p>"I can't swim to save myself."</p><p>"Who cares about that on Coruscant?" Ben asked.</p><p>"He's also useless at buying pyjamas," Ophelia said.</p><p>"Yes, thank you, Ophelia," Luke said. "And you are better than all of us at school work. I need your help to figure out tough math problems."</p><p>Ben didn't reply.</p><p>"Don't bother, Luke," Ophelia said, pulling her blanket up to her chin. "He's like Juno. Just can't accept his station."</p><p>Juno twitched her ears and tossed a piece of popcorn at Ophelia. "You narcissist nerf!"</p><p>Just as she said the word 'nerf', the doors slid open. But no light streamed into the dark room from the hallway.</p><p>It was blocked by an armored Sith Lord.</p><p>Juno froze for a moment, staring up at him, and then tried to dive for her bed. Luke sat up as his father stretched out a hand, holding her still.</p><p>"What is in your hand?" he asked, the accusation clear in his tone.</p><p>Juno quickly hid the popcorn behind her back, but it immediately came flying out of her hands and sailed across the room in mid-air, causing Greein to gasp.</p><p>"Is this junk food?!"</p><p>"No! Popcorn is full of fibre!" Juno insisted. Then she pointed towards Luke, Ben and Greein. "They were still playing holo games!"</p><p>"Come with me."</p><p>"Ophelia was saying rude things about Ben!"</p><p>"I said <em>come</em>."</p><p>He began to pull her forwards with the Force, and Luke hastily began to climb out of bed, seeing Juno's terrified expression. "Dad!"</p><p>But Luke found he was unable to move further himself. As soon as Juno was outside the room, the door closed with an ominous hiss.</p><p><em>Father!</em> Luke sent. <em>Leave her alone!</em></p><p>
  <em>Calm down, Son. She won't be permanently maimed.</em>
</p><p>Luke sighed. "Artoo, go and make sure she's all right."</p><p>Artoo whistled in agreement and then rolled out the doors. A terrified silence followed his exit.</p><p>"What will he do to her, Luke?" Ophelia whispered, sounding genuinely worried for her supposed enemy.</p><p>"Take her to the brig, of course," Greein said. "I can't believe she tried to sell us out like that."</p><p>"She had a point," Ophelia said. "We all broke his rules."</p><p>"He's making an example," Ben said, in an ominous tone.</p><p>There was a minute of heavy silence, and then Luke sighed. "If she's not back in ten minutes, I'll go and find out what's happening. But I trust Artoo's judgement."</p><p>They fell silent again, and Luke watched the chronometer above the holovid slowly tick over. He couldn't help but listen for any hint of screaming. Right before it was about to hit the ten minute mark, Ophelia said, "Do you think he knows who her parents are? I mean … she's not <em>that</em> average."</p><p>"Unlike Ben, you mean?" Greein said, sounding amused.</p><p>"Sure," Ophelia said, oblivious to Greein's mocking tone. "I don't even know why they made Ben stay here. It's not like anyone would kidnap him."</p><p>Before anyone could respond, the doors slid open again, and Juno slipped inside. She went straight to her bed, and then pulled the blankets up to her nose, staring at the ceiling.</p><p>"What happened?" Luke asked, at the same time as Ophelia.</p><p>Juno just shook her head and then said, "That was the most terrifying ten minutes of my life."</p><p>"Did he hurt you?" Ophelia asked, sounding worried.</p><p>She shook her head again. After another moment of silence, she said, "He just made me sit in a chair facing the wall in the conference room where he was working. There was a sign on the screen beside it that said 'the brig'."</p><p>Greein burst out laughing.</p><p>"He let me go after he got a call asking him to go and meet with the Emperor. Said we all better be asleep by the time he comes back."</p><p>"How long will that be?" Greein asked.</p><p>"Well … it takes a good five minutes to get up to the spires from here," Luke said. "If the Emperor wants to talk to him in person, then it's probably something important. Maybe they've found the Liberator base. So I'd say we have at least half an hour."</p><p>Ben sighed and stood up, reaching for his tunic.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Greein asked, confused.</p><p>"I can't sleep unless I get some fresh air. I'm just going out to the balcony for a bit."</p><p>"Are you nuts?" Juno asked. "If he comes back early and finds you out there, he'll put you in <em>the brig!</em>"</p><p>"I'll risk it," Ben said, in a flat tone.</p><p>"Ben …" Luke started.</p><p>But he was already walking out of the room.</p><p>"Stars," Greein said. "What is up with him?"</p><p>"Long story," Luke said. He thought it over, and then found himself relaying it from the start, for the second time that night. Greein and Juno weren't like Ophelia … Greein clearly thought it was a joke that Ophelia thought Ben was somehow 'average' and Juno had made it clear what she thought of the snobby putdowns. Maybe they would have better advice.</p><p>When he was done, Greein was the first to reply.</p><p>"Huh. You know … it sounds like this is actually Ben's father's fault. I mean … my parents are boring, but if they started hanging out with my friends instead of me, I'd get angry and jealous too."</p><p>"This entire thing was Ben's idea though. He insisted his father enter the contest with me."</p><p>"He could have put a stop to it when he saw Ben was feeling sensitive about it, though."</p><p>"I suggested that and he got even more angry," Luke said. "I just wish this contest had never even happened. I want my friend back."</p><p>There was another minute of silence, during which Luke listened for any sign of Ben's return. Then Juno said, "It's just Ben and his dad, right?"</p><p>"Yes," Luke said.</p><p>"His relationship with his dad probably means a lot to him."</p><p>Luke agreed, thinking of his own relationship with his father.</p><p>"If he's scared that his dad thinks he's a disappointment because he's not as good as shooting as you are, that would really mess him up. It might make him afraid that he's not good enough for anyone. Even his friends. So he's pushing you away and taking this out on you. But deep down, I bet he knows he really should be talking about his feelings with his dad."</p><p>Luke was quiet, staring at the ceiling. That was a really good theory.</p><p>"Well, you know us guys," Greein said. "Talking about feelings? Admitting we're vulnerable? Being a sharpshooter is a lot easier."</p><p>"Girls can find it hard too," Ophelia admitted. She sounded emotional, and Luke was about to ask if she was all right, when the bedroom doors opened again. He immediately looked up, hoping to see Ben, but instead it was Artoo. He rolled up to his bed quickly, beeping and whistling.</p><p>"What?!" Luke said, scrambling to pull back the covers. "He went <em>where</em>?"</p><p>Artoo whistled louder.</p><p>"Stars, I have to go after him," Luke said, rushing to his closet. He pulled on a hooded poncho, and then opened a drawer, looking for some thicker pants to slip over his pyjamas.</p><p>"Where did he go?" Greein asked, sitting up.</p><p>"The hangar."</p><p>"What … is he planning to fly a speeder home?" Juno asked.</p><p>"Good luck not getting blasted out of the sky," Ophelia said.</p><p>"No! There's a secret way out of the palace you can access from the service elevator in the hangar! I showed him the other day. Stupid, stupid."</p><p>"You mean he's actually gone <em>outside</em>?" Greein said, sitting up. "Stars. They could think he was an intruder and shoot him!"</p><p>"It leads out in the lower levels," Luke said. "If I can just reach him in time …" He sat down, pulling on his boots.</p><p>"Wait, Luke," Ophelia said. "Maybe you should tell your father."</p><p>Luke didn't even bother dignifying that with a response.</p><p>"I'll go with you," Juno said. "Maybe I can help convince him to come back." She walked over to raid Luke's closet for some warmer clothing. Greein was already there, trying to figure out if a zip jacket would fit him.</p><p>"Wait," Ophelia said, sitting up. "Don't leave me here alone!"</p><p>"Then come too," Juno said. "You were the one who told him he wasn't important enough to be kidnapped!"</p><p>"Fine, fine," Ophelia said, climbing out of bed. Juno grinned and handed her a sweater.</p><hr/><p>The Emperor was looking out the window at the end of the sculpture hall, surveying the formations of TIE fighters flying over the city. Vader could sense his anger at the situation. He hated any disruption to galactic order that wasn't a direct result of his manipulations. But his voice was calm when he spoke.</p><p>"How goes the search, my friend?"</p><p>"It has yet to yield results, my master," Vader said, coming to stand beside him.</p><p>"A search always goes badly until the moment it is over," the Emperor said. "The question is … how long to let it go on?"</p><p>"This girl they have taken by mistake will generate much public unrest. Perhaps more than the socialite boy."</p><p>"Yes," the Emperor agreed. He sighed then. "ISB have a manufactured holo showing the boy's murder at the hands of these troublemakers. They only await my command to release it."</p><p>He paused for a long moment, and then said, "I am considering midnight might be the right time. Unless you have any objection."</p><p>It was so rare for the Emperor to seek his opinion on any non-military decisions, Vader was momentarily at a loss. Despite being educated in politics since childhood, it never came naturally to him.</p><p>Finally, he said, "The political gain if the Empire finds the victims alive and destroys the so-called Liberators would be far greater than the fallout from the dead body of a celebrity idol."</p><p>"You think only in the short term. The experience of loss and the desire for revenge among the youth will be a valuable recruitment tool. No, I believe this has gone on long enough. And you can still continue your search for the Liberators, regardless."</p><p>"Yes, master." He knew what his master was thinking. The Empire would require many young recruits over the coming years, especially if the military needed to grow to a point to fully staff the Death Star. Or even multiple Death Stars, as was his master's vision. But this still didn't sit right. He preferred a straight fight to subterfuge … which is perhaps why he could never be a politician.</p><p>He was still thinking over the dilemma, wondering if there was anything he could have said to delay the release of the doctored holo for another day at least, when he stepped out of the elevator to detect a suspicious silence in the Force. When he'd left their personal living area, he'd sensed nothing but waves of youthful energy from Luke's bedroom. Perhaps they had finally worn themselves out with all their endless chatter.</p><p>But the closer he came to the door, the more strange the situation seemed. He stretched out along his bond with Luke, seeking his presence. It immediately became clear he was no longer in his bedroom. He quickly opened the door, and found five empty beds, but no evidence of any intrusion. Luke's pillow still radiated the warmth of recent occupancy.</p><p>His gaze shifted to the window, and his concern escalated into a full blown parental panic.</p><hr/><p>"This place stinks," Greein complained, as they stepped over a long-disused water pipe.</p><p>"Yeah, there are a few rodents. Just don't look," Luke said, following Artoo up the tunnel. Ophelia was close behind him, while Greein and Juno came at the tail. Juno made a disgusted noise as she failed to dodge a trailing cobweb.</p><p>"Don't worry, it ends soon," Luke said, shining his multi-tool at the dusty floor. He could see Ben's boot prints ahead, and his friend had been moving quickly. Almost running. What could have motivated him to brave this place alone at night was impossible to understand. Was he really feeling so miserable that this seemed like a better option?</p><p>Two more bends, and then they all had to duck down to reach the final trap door that led to a lower level alleyway. Artoo went first, using his jets to land safely. Luke dropped down next, and then the girls, followed by Greein. They all stared around in amazement.</p><p>"Where is this place?" Ophelia asked.</p><p>"A few levels down from the bottom of the palace," Luke said.</p><p>"I've never been to the lower levels before," Juno said. "It's … not as bad as I imagined. I thought there were gangs and monsters everywhere."</p><p>"How do we get back up there?" Ophelia said, looking up at the square hatch that had now swung shut.</p><p>"Huh. I've never gone back in that way," Luke said. "I guess you just … climb up somehow." He looked one more time, idly thinking that Jedi had probably jumped up, but they might need to rely on Artoo's tow cable. "The most important thing is to find Ben," he said, shining his light at the ground. There were clear footprints leading off towards the top end of the alley, but once they came through to the street, they stopped on a permacrete walkway.</p><p>"Maybe we should split up," Juno said.</p><p>"No, he will have gone this way," Luke said, after looking left and right.</p><p>"How do you know?" Ophelia asked.</p><p>"Because this is the way to his apartment. There's an elevator not far from here that leads up to the surface.</p><p>"Does he know that?"</p><p>Luke hesitated, and then said, "Let's just … try it." He didn't think his friends would react well if he said he had a feeling about this.</p><p>Artoo was already rolling forward, chirping in an encouraging way. Perhaps he had detected Ben's presence on his scanners. The lower level was largely deserted, although they received the odd glance from people sheltering in doorways and inside derelict buildings. Three cleaning droids swept past when they arrived at the elevator, but no one asked if they were lost. Fortunately, one arrived quickly and they all pressed inside the small space. Ophelia held her nose.</p><p>"Yeah, the lower level elevators often smell like this," Luke said.</p><p>"I don't even want to know what that smell is," Juno said, cringing.</p><p>It was a relief to step out at the top. Up ahead, there was a transparisteel walkway tube, leading through to a park. Artoo made a warning noise, and Luke glanced up, seeing a flat speeder with a searchlight mounted on the bottom. He gestured to the rest of them, and they waited until it had passed, and then ran through the tunnel.</p><p>"This isn't far from where the other girl was taken," Ophelia said, sounding nervous.</p><p>Luke stepped out onto the soft artificial grass, and scanned the area. But it was Artoo who spotted Ben first. He made a cheerful whistle and began rolling towards him.</p><p>"Ben!" Luke called, his voice louder than he intended. He took off at a run, overtaking Artoo, just as his friend turned around in surprise.</p><p>"Luke?" He looked past him, seeing the rest of them moving closer at a slower pace. "What … what are you doing here?"</p><p>"Looking for you! What were you thinking, coming out here alone? Are things really that bad?"</p><p>Ben just looked blank.</p><p>"Can we talk about this back at the palace?" Ophelia suggested, as she came within conversation distance. "Or … under a tree, at least?"</p><p>"You've been spending way too much time around me," Luke said, pointing at Ben. "You're not supposed to be the impulsive one!"</p><p>A cleaning droid rattled up behind Ben, and then a large scanner extended from its outer casing. Artoo made a beep of protest.</p><p>"I … there was no point me being there," Ben said.</p><p>"Well, there is that whole thing with the entire block being closed while they search for kidnapping terrorists!" Juno said, raising a furry eyebrow. She reached out to take Ben's hand. "Come on back. Biology Group 2 isn't the same without you."</p><p>"Yeah, we need to do Haunted Forest properly in the morning," Greein said, slapping him on the back. "No accidental thermal detonator explosions this time."</p><p>"And I want my friend back," Luke said, firmly.</p><p>Ben looked like he was about to tear up, but was trying hard to keep it together. Then, Ophelia said, "I … I guess I … should have used some different words."</p><p>Luke stared at her, incredulous. "Is that supposed to be an apology?"</p><p>Ophelia shrugged. "I'm trying!"</p><p>"Try harder."</p><p>"It's okay," Ben said, raising his hands. "You don't need to apologise. I'll come back … " He looked at Luke. "Just don't tell your father I was out here or I think he'll put me in the real brig."</p><p>"Great, let's—" Luke broke off, realizing something wasn't right. He felt … danger?</p><p>A second too slow, he turned to see the cleaning droid extend a large exhaust tube, which erupted into a cloud of pink gas. Ophelia collapsed first, followed by Greein and Ben. Just as his vision turned fuzzy, he heard Artoo screech in anger.</p><p>Somewhere, deep in his mind, he could hear his father calling.</p><p>
  <em>Luke! Where are you?!</em>
</p><p>His knees buckled, and he sunk to the ground.</p><hr/><p>The repulsors on the speeder groaned as the vehicle plunged out of the sky. As soon as it hit the ground, Vader jumped out and scanned the area, searching for any sign of Luke. A cloud of pink gas was slowly dissipating, and in the centre of it, one lone figure was slumped on the ground. Ben.</p><p>Vader came forward quickly, just as Artoo rolled out of the haze, beeping frantically.</p><p>
  <em>A droid has taken Luke and the others! I managed to get a tracker on it, but it's disappeared into the lower levels!</em>
</p><p>"Come on," Vader said, bending down to pick up Ben. The boy was still breathing, and an unintelligible mumble came from his lips, but he didn't fully come to until he was placed in the speeder passenger seat. When he saw Vader, he made a startled noise and lurched backwards.</p><p>"Buckle in," Vader said, walking around to the pilot's seat. Artoo had already secured himself in the back. "Artoo, do you have a lock on the tracker?"</p><p>Artoo squealed loudly, and a single moving object was highlighted on the main navigation screen. Vader launched into the air, causing a groggy Ben to rush to do up his seat restraints. The pursuit took them over the park fence and then on a brief ninety-degree plunge into the lower levels, before momentarily levelling out down a transit tunnel.</p><p>"Ten minutes," Vader said, struggling to remain calm. "I leave you alone for <em>ten minutes</em>. What teenage lunacy led to you all leaving the palace?"</p><p>Ben, who was fully awake now, tried to shuffle so he was as far away from him as possible. Difficult, in a speeder.</p><p>"I … uh … that was … my fault. Sir."</p><p>"Then you are well-positioned to explain."</p><p>"Ophelia said it wasn't like anyone would kidnap me, and she had a point, so I … I thought I'd just walk back home. I didn't know they would all come after me!"</p><p>Vader plunged the speeder down another twenty levels, before straightening out into an underpass.</p><p>"You didn't know Luke would come after you," Vader repeated. "The same Luke who would dive into a trash compactor to save a model ship."</p><p>Artoo made a whistle of agreement.</p><p>Ben bowed his head.</p><p>"Young man, if you know anything about my son, it should be this. The people he loves always come first. To a reckless degree."</p><p>"I didn't think," Ben mumbled, sounding distressed.</p><p>"Because you allowed your own self-doubt and insecurity to poison your mind," Vader said. "It is time you learned to appreciate what skills you do have instead of coveting those you don't. And I suspect you have more than you realize."</p><p>Ben glanced up, looking like this was a revelation to him.</p><p>Vader was just about to ask Artoo why their target had fallen off the tracking radar, when he whistled and beeped out a worried question.</p><p>
  <em>They've disappeared. Can you sense Luke through the Force?</em>
</p><p>"Upload their last known coordinates," Vader said. There was nothing but a vague cloudy sensation on the other end of their bond.</p><p><em>Hold on, Son</em>, he sent. <em>I'm on my way.</em></p><hr/><p>Luke stared around in confusion as he rose slowly to his knees. They were in the lobby of a grand, old-fashioned hotel, complete with chandeliers and two carved wooden staircases. But everything was tilted a little sideways somehow. Or perhaps he was still disorientated from the gas. He ran a hand over the aging cream carpet, and then reached out to rouse Ophelia. She was currently slumped on her side.</p><p>"What … what is this place?" Greein asked, climbing to his feet behind him.</p><p>"Looks like a hotel," Luke said. There was quiet music playing in the background. The sort of generic tune that you could sometimes hear playing in public elevators around Imperial City.</p><p>Juno was sitting up too now, staring around. She pointed at one of the desks. "I haven't seen a computer that old outside of a museum."</p><p>"Those lights look old too," Luke said. He finally rose to his feet, and then wobbled as he struggled to gain his balance. Beside him, Ophelia was now sitting up, rubbing her eyes.</p><p>"Call … help …" she mumbled.</p><p>Luke felt for his comlink and found it had gone. Then he noticed several tan-colored battle droids, resting a short distance away. He'd seen droids like that in Clone Wars history holos.</p><p>The main reception desk was a circle in the middle of the lobby, with multiple power cables running across the floor towards it. Luke took a few steps towards it, and then came to a halt as a transparent bowl-like head popped up from the middle. Luke could see at least three droid CPUs bound together with a knot of wires inside. They were clearly from different types of droids and were barely compatible, and every so often, a spark would arc across the wires.</p><p>"Greetings, new hostages of the Liberator Army," it said, rotating its head to scan all of them.</p><p>"Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" Luke said. "If you want to liberate people, why don't you start with us?"</p><p>The droid head rose dramatically into the air, and eight massive mechanical spider legs emerged below it, standing up on the counter to increase the droid's height by a good three meters. The others made noises of surprise and disgust.</p><p>"You are a mouthy one, Luke Skywalker."</p><p>"How do you know my name?" Luke asked, taken aback.</p><p>"Because <em>I</em> am the Liberator General, and I know everything," the droid said, sparks glowing inside its head. "You will be a most valuable bargaining tool." Its head swiveled. "And you, Ophelia Halifiax. You tried to evade us with your decoy, but now you are ours!"</p><p>"She wasn't a decoy!" Ophelia protested. "What have you done with her and Sunny?"</p><p>"They are alive, for now. But we no longer need the other girl. Or you." It pointed towards Juno with one of its legs. "You will be sacrificed to the cause."</p><p>"No, no, wait," Luke said, raising his hands. "They can still be valuable. Why don't you tell me your plan, and I'll help you figure out a way to get what you want and still keep everyone alive."</p><p>"As if your puny biological brain could possibly comprehend my elaborate and glorious plan." It gestured towards one of the battle droids. "Take them to the holding cell. I grow tired of listening to the mouthy one speak."</p><p>"Roger, roger."</p><p>All four of them had instinctively drawn close together while the spider-droid was speaking, but now they were separated by the battle droids and Luke felt a blaster pushed against his back. Juno made an anxious noise, and Luke reached out to pat her on the arm. "Don't worry," he said. "No one will let anything happen to you."</p><p>"Yes, I'll tell them how important you really are," Ophelia said. "They'll listen to me."</p><p>"Hey, where's Ben?" Greein asked, as they were pushed towards the nearest staircase.</p><p>"They must have left him behind," Luke said. "Hopefully he's gone back to get help."</p><p>"But how will they know where to find us?" Juno asked, her voice shaking.</p><p>"Cut the chatter," the droid behind Juno said. "Move quickly!"</p><p>They were prodded and pushed up to the mezzanine level, and then a droid activated the up button on the elevator. It was quite a squeeze to fit them all in, and Luke found himself uncomfortably pressed between the wall and two battle droids. The elevator itself creaked and rattled, and it was a relief when it finally made it to the top.</p><p>They stepped out into a short corridor with a single door at the end. The sign above it read 'penthouse suite'.</p><p>"This is the holding cell?" Luke enquired. He'd been expecting some gungy place in the basement.</p><p>"Silence, human!" the droid behind him said. "You may save your pleas for mercy for the Liberator General."</p><p>It activated the doors, and they slid open to reveal a large comfortable room, with multiple seating areas, adjacent rooms, and some kind of ancient black video screen. Down the far end, a girl who looked vaguely like Ophelia sat at a small table, leafing through an old-fashioned paper magazine. She looked up at the sight of them, and stood up quickly.</p><p>The droids said nothing until all four of them were in the room, and then said, "Now, you will remain here and work on your pleas for mercy. Do not attempt escape or there will be unimaginable consequences!"</p><p>Juno immediately attempted to open the door after they'd left, but the controls had been deactivated from the inside.</p><p>"Hi," Luke called, as the blonde girl came over. "Are you okay?"</p><p>She nodded, but Luke could tell she'd been crying earlier. "They grabbed me a few hours ago. I was just waiting for a girl I was meeting for a date, and a cleaning droid rolled up and sprayed gas in my face. Where did they take you from?"</p><p>"A park near the palace," Luke said. "Have you been treated okay? They haven't hurt you?"</p><p>She nodded again, brushing her hair back from her face. "He's so awful though. I'm glad you're here."</p><p>"You mean that creepy spider-droid downstairs?" Juno asked. "I know, right?"</p><p>"No, I mean—"</p><p>A nearby door slid open, revealing a young man with bronze skin, bleached hair, and a white towel wrapped tightly around his waist.</p><p>"Ophelia!"</p><p>"Great," Luke mumbled, in a sarcastic tone that made Greein smirk.</p><p>Sunny strode across the floor towards Ophelia, arms outstretched. "It's so good to see you!"</p><p>She raised her left hand, palm out, while pointing at him with her right.</p><p>"You told them where to find me!" she said.</p><p>He smiled in a guilty way. "Yeah, well … that was an accident! See these stupid droids have no idea what humans need. They had me in this tiny room and I said they had to shift me to the penthouse or I'd suffocate. And they did! Then I explained humans don't just need food and water." He pointed to his lower half. "Without female companionship they would explode and I'd die a horrible death! So they asked what my preference was for a female, and I told them all about you. I didn't know they would actually try and get you."</p><p>He gestured to the other girl. "But then they brought in this one and—" He made a face at Greein and Luke, and then said, "She doesn't even like men!"</p><p>"Ugh!" Ophelia said, turning away. "Could you be anymore revolting?!"</p><p>"That's what I said," the other girl mumbled.</p><p>"Calm down," Sunny said. "Why don't you introduce me to them?" He gestured to Luke, Greein and Juno. "I have no idea who they are, so they can't be famous. Are they just taking anybody now?"</p><p>Ophelia glared at him, and then gestured to Juno. "This is my best friend, Juno. At least, this <em>was</em> my best friend until your fragile ego insisted I wasn't allowed to spend time with anyone but you! This is Greein Morta-Clan and Luke Skywalker. Luke is the son of Lord Vader … yes, you didn't know he was my classmate, did you? Maybe if you'd ever actually asked me about my life instead of treating me like your latest fashion accessory."</p><p>"What is wrong with you?" Sunny asked, frowning. "I know we broke up, but we were still friends!"</p><p>"We were <em>never</em> friends, and that's the problem!" Ophelia said. "What's wrong, you ask? What's <em>wrong</em>? Me and my <em>real</em> friends have been kidnapped by <em>psychotic droids</em> thanks to your utterly selfish stupidity! And if I'm going to die down here, I want at least one person to know that me dating you was the biggest mistake of my life!"</p><p>Sunny just laughed in a patronising way.</p><p>But Juno came up and wrapped both her arms around Ophelia. "That was epic, Phee," she said. Ophelia hugged her back.</p><p>Luke smiled at the sight, and then looked up, getting a nagging feeling at the edge of his senses. Then he felt his link with his father hum into life. Who knew how long he'd been trying to get his attention.</p><p><em>Hi</em>, Luke sent, feeling sheepish.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vader felt a rush of relief at the familiar glow of his son's presence, and quickly used the bond to check for injuries. If anyone had harmed a single blond hair on his head ...</p><p>
  <em>Luke! Are you all right?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm fine. But … remember that plan I had? I guess we're doing it!</em>
</p><p>Vader released a slow breath, wordlessly communicating all his anger and frustration over his son's reckless choices and unending ability to attract trouble.</p><p>
  <em>Young one, if you don't immediately tell me exactly where you are—</em>
</p><p><em>Calm down!</em> <em>I can't say exactly, but we're inside an old luxury hotel. </em>Vader got a glimpse through Luke's eyes as he looked out a window. <em>It's completely dark outside. I'm thinking we're deep in the lower levels. We met a crazy droid who said he was the Liberator General. And there are Clone Wars battle droids around.</em></p><p>While Luke was speaking, Vader had been flying the speeder in a search pattern. As soon as he said <em>battle droids</em>, his sense of Luke's presence grew a whole lot stronger. Vader immediately pitched the speeder down, feeling his son's presence loom large in the Force.</p><p>
  <em>I believe I have found you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Good. We're in the penthouse suite.</em>
</p><p>"Whoa!" Ben said, pointing through the windshield. "What's that?"</p><p>Vader looked ahead, seeing the hotel emerging from the darkness. It looked like it had fallen from the level above, as it was tilted on an angle and some of the floors had been compressed. But, once upon a time, it had clearly been a luxury hotel, with carved windows framing the odd point of light. The grand front entrance was surrounded by a circular landing pad. Artoo beeped cautiously.</p><p>"Do you detect any lifeforms?" Vader asked.</p><p>Artoo whistled an affirmation, and then added, <em>and lots of droids!</em></p><p>Vader glanced at Ben. "How is your flying?"</p><p>"Um, well, I'm still on my learner license."</p><p>"Good enough," Vader said, pressing a button to retract the speeder's roof. "Take over and bring it into land once I've cleared the landing pad of droids."</p><p>"What?! How will you—?"</p><p>Vader stood up and jumped out of the speeder, falling through the darkness. A second later, he landed in the middle of the heavily guarded circular pad and sent half the droids flying over the edge. The other half began shooting, and in a moment, he swung his lightsaber around in a circle, sending the bolts bouncing back towards the hapless machines.</p><p>They were old models, some even pre-dating the Clone Wars. Many of them had a mish-mash of parts salvaged from even older units, and he saw at least one with a battle droid head on a service droid body. Soon, in a flurry of blaster fire and lightsaber swings, they were nothing but a collection of smoking parts, and Vader looked up to find the speeder descending from the darkness.</p><p>It lowered and stopped in a jerky fashion, before finally coming down with a bump. Then it shot forward, plunging into the base of a permacrete statue.</p><p>Ben swore, apologising profusely while reversing and finally getting the brake on. He then stepped out of the speeder, cringing as he surveyed the damage.</p><p>"Never mind, young one," Vader said, stretching out a hand towards a bisected droid. Its blaster jumped through the air and into his hand. "I have seen worse landings. Take this."</p><p>He held out the blaster, and Ben shifted away, raising his hands. "I … I can't shoot straight!"</p><p>"Then it is time you learned." He stepped forward, forcing Ben to take the blaster, and then pointed at Artoo. "Take the speeder back to the surface and call the palace. I need reinforcements down here immediately. And make sure the Emperor is informed we have found the Liberator Army."</p><p>Artoo whistled an acknowledgement, and then used his jets to transfer into the pilot's seat.</p><p>"Sir, are you sure you don't want Artoo to help down here and I go and call the palace, because—"</p><p>"Are you questioning my orders?" Vader asked.</p><p>Ben shrunk back, shaking his head.</p><p>"I thought not. Now, listen carefully, young one. I have seen you shoot. The reason you fail is because you are thinking about everything other than what you are doing. You are thinking about how useless you think you are. You are thinking about your fear that you will disappoint your father. You are feeling angry with yourself whenever you make a mistake. You need to clear your mind of self-recrimination. The Force will guide you."</p><p>"The Force?" Ben asked, looking awed. "I thought only some people could use the Force."</p><p>"The Force flows through all living things. Including you. Some are chosen to be especially attuned to its ways, but all can benefit from its power. Center yourself, focus, and you will find your inner calm. I will need your help to rescue Luke and the rest of them."</p><p>"<em>You</em> need me?" Ben said, eyes wide.</p><p>"Yes. When we enter the hotel, the droids will attack. I will go first and deflect any incoming blaster fire. You will follow behind and assist with shooting the droids as I push them to the floor. Aim for their torso lights or heads."</p><p>Ben nodded. He still looked afraid, but there was a determination about him now. "I'm ready."</p><p>"Remember. Focus."</p><p>"Yes, sir."</p><p>Vader turned and ignited his lightsaber as he moved into the hotel. The floor was tilted, and every so often, a support beam had fallen through the ceiling or poked up through the carpet. They emerged from the short entranceway into a grand lobby, with a round reception desk in the middle. Vader scanned the silent room, while Ben kept close behind him.</p><p>"There's no one here," Ben whispered.</p><p>As if in response, a transparent droid head popped up from the middle of the reception desk.</p><p>"Welcome to the Liberator base, Lord Vader," it started. "Here, you will finally meet your doom! And I will witness it! Oh, a glorious—"</p><p>Vader made a noise of frustration, and then raised a hand. The droid flew up in the air, revealing eight dangling mechanical legs. Then he flipped it upside down and hovered it at eye level while he strode forward to meet it.</p><p>"You dare defy the Empire, <em>droid</em>?" he said, bringing the saber up to point at its neck.</p><p>The internal workings inside the head casing began sparking, and immediately more of the patched up battle droids began pouring in from the adjoining rooms.</p><p>"Take cover!" Vader ordered, pointing Ben to a desk at the side. He obeyed immediately. In the ensuing wave of blaster fire, the spider-droid escaped from his grip and scurried away up the wall, taking refuge on the mezzanine level. Vader concentrated on the immediate threat, crushing one set of droids with the Force, while deflecting blaster fire back into the second. Then he turned to deal with the third wave, and found they were already falling. Shot cleanly by Ben, who admittedly was positioned so near it was impossible to miss. Still, he felt a wave of satisfaction from the boy, which could only help the situation.</p><p>"Good work," Vader said, stepping forward to concentrate on the next wave. After he'd hacked his way through another twelve droids, he looked around for the lead droid, and found it hiding on the staircase.</p><p>"Stop this!" the spider-droid screeched. It jumped in the air, landing on the floor beside him. He was about to plunge his lightsaber into its head, when he felt a warning from the Force.</p><p>"Destroy me, and you will destroy this entire base!" the droid declared. "I have set the self-destruct to activate the second I stop transmitting the signal!"</p><p>Vader eyed the droid, considering the words. This was going to be more complicated than he imagined.</p><p>Beside them, the droid projected a massive holo showing the layout of the hotel.</p><p>"You will do my bidding or I will destroy this base a room at a time until you do!" the droid said. "Let me demonstrate!" A room on the map flashed red, and then the sound of a distant explosion rocked the floor. "Any of these rooms could contain your precious son!"</p><p>Vader pointed at the top of the map. "He is in the penthouse suite. I believe you just destroyed part of your own army."</p><p>"They will willingly sacrifice themselves for the cause! The Liberator Army knows it has been ordained for this work! I will lead them to victory!"</p><p>While the droid was ranting, Vader saw movement out of his peripheral vision. Ben was running up the stairs. He was about to order him to stand down and wait for instructions, when the boy disappeared into an elevator, causing Vader to release a weary breath. Where was the 501st when he needed them? He turned back to the spider-droid and said, "Very well. Tell me what you want from me, droid."</p><hr/><p>Luke was pacing up and down by the door, looking for any sign of his father's arrival. But who actually came running into the room was a complete surprise.</p><p>"Ben!"</p><p>He was followed by two battle droids. Luke watched in horror as they raised their blasters, but Ben was already shooting the one on the left. Then he rolled out of the way, propped himself up on one knee, and aimed another shot, catching the second droid before it fired its own blaster.</p><p>"Ben, that was amazing!" Luke said, looking from one destroyed droid to the other. "You took them down like a pro! You <em>are</em> a sharpshooter!"</p><p>But Ben's only response was to rise shakily to his feet, lower the blaster and put one arm around him in a half-embrace. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I behaved like a sleemo and—"</p><p>"It's okay," Luke said, hugging him back. "Where's my father?"</p><p>"He's down in the lobby taking care of that spider-droid," Ben said, moving back as the others began to gather around them.</p><p>"Ben!" Juno said, reaching up to put a hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"</p><p>"I'm fine, but how are—" Ben paused, finally looking around at their 'cell'. "Wow. So this is how they imprison rich and famous people?"</p><p>"Come on," Luke said, grinning as he reached down to pick up one of the fallen droid's blasters. He passed the second one to Juno. "Let's go help my father."</p><p>The only answer to his words was a loud explosion.</p><hr/><p>"Another small taste of what will await your son if you don't give in to my demands!" the droid insisted, head rotating and sparking.</p><p>Vader stared at the map, seeing an entire wing of the hotel was now nothing but burning rubble.</p><p>"You would destroy your own army?" Vader enquired. "Are your logic circuits online?"</p><p>"They know their cause is just!"</p><p>"The Empire has brought peace and security to the galaxy," Vader said. "Isn't that a just cause?"</p><p>The droid sparked and whirred, and then said, "You have brought destruction and terror!"</p><p>"The only terror on Coruscant tonight is caused by you."</p><p>"Enough stalling! You will accede or I will destroy the room where your son is imprisoned!"</p><p>Just as the droid said this, Luke ran out of elevators above them, followed by the rest of the formerly confined teenagers. Several battle droids began pouring out of the other elevators behind them, but Luke and Ben provided enough covering fire to get them to the relative safety of the staircase. Vader raised a hand, pushing the remaining droids to the carpet, which allowed Ben to destroy them with a volley of blaster fire.</p><p>Vader turned his attention back to the spider-droid. "You were saying?"</p><p>The droid started to make another threat, but he was drowned out by the click of stormtrooper armor and boots. The sight of the white armor, moving past to climb the stairs to protect and secure his son, was a relief. Two of them came to stand beside him, staring up at the droid in amazement.</p><p>"You have only provided more fuel for the grand fire I will make of the Empire!" the droid insisted.</p><p>Vader was about to reply, when another teenager stepped out of the elevators above. He was busy pulling a tight-fitting shirt over his bare chest, and he looked around with a vague expression of dissatisfaction as he walked down the stairs.</p><p>"Finally! Took you all long enough! Who's in charge here?"</p><p>A stormtrooper stepped up to guide the young man to join the others, who were now protected on all sides by the senior members of the 501st. But he pushed the soldier away and kept walking forward until he drew up short at the sight of Vader.</p><p>"Ah. It's you! Good! Listen, here's what I need." He began tapping his fingers as he counted off his requirements. "My hair stylist. My PR consultant. My publicist. My holographer—"</p><p>Vader saw red. He had tolerated a lot tonight. Maintained his temper through circumstances no Sith Lord before him ever had faced. This … this was a step too far. He was already removing a hand from his lightsaber and raising it towards the boy, without consciously thinking about it.</p><p>"No!" Luke protested, clearly sensing the danger.</p><p>Sunny continued, completely ignorant of his dire situation. " … the HoloNet news standing by to record my reunion with my family. They can start bidding on rights to my first post-rescue interview. I also need a bag of unsalted dried chickpeas and some ionized—AH!"</p><p>A ripple of blue electricity crackled up Sunny's body, and he twitched a couple of times and then slumped backwards. A stormtrooper caught him, and then hastily let go as he was shocked by the residual charge.</p><p>From behind, an astromech droid rolled forward, making a series of chuckling beeps as he retracted his power outlet.</p><p>"Artoo!" Luke said, hiding a smile.</p><p>"Well-timed," Vader remarked. He beckoned to the droid, and Artoo spun his dome towards him, and then rolled over, while Vader again addressed the so-called Liberator General. "I have a droid I would like you to meet. He is highly skilled. I think you will find him pleasant company."</p><p>"Then I will take his circuits and make them my own!" the spider-droid declared. Artoo screeched as it rose to its full towering height.</p><p><em>What's wrong with him?</em> he asked Vader. <em>You can see his brain!</em></p><p>"There is a signal being transmitted by this droid," Vader said. "Do you think you can replicate it?"</p><p><em>Of course</em>, Artoo said, in a derisive tone. He extended his transmitter.</p><p>"Then I will continue to overlook your lack of respect," Vader said. He pointed at the stormtrooper captain, who was standing at his flank, waiting for orders. "Take the young people to your transport and move them away from the hotel."</p><p><em>What are you doing?</em> Luke sent, sounding anxious.</p><p><em>Engaging in some aggressive negotiations</em>, Vader replied.</p><p><em>This whole hotel is going to explode, isn't it?</em> Luke asked, frowning as a stormtrooper began to pull him away.</p><p><em>When have I ever purposely let an enemy base explode? </em>Vader asked.</p><p>Artoo made a cheerful beep, as if privy to the conversation.</p><p><em>I'm ready when you are</em>, Artoo chirped.</p><hr/><p>It took another ten minutes to clear the base of troopers and teenagers and finish attaching some additional explosives to the now legless spider-droid, but soon Vader was accelerating away from the hotel, Artoo in the passenger seat, and the satisfying sight of flaming rubble in the speeder's rear view scope. Artoo was even recording the display.</p><p><em>The HoloNet news might like it</em>, he beeped.</p><p>"Perhaps you could sell it to Imperial PR," Vader suggested. "It may improve their opinion of me."</p><p><em>I'll donate the profits to a charity to help disadvantaged astromechs</em>, Artoo said.</p><p>"I think a better cause would be to assist the parents of reckless teenagers," Vader said.</p><p>The rescue operation had based itself in the park where Luke and his friends had been taken, and when he came in to land, he could already see secure escorts arriving to transport the teenagers back to their families. When he stepped out of the speeder, the stormtrooper captain came to report.</p><p>"Sir, Mr Sy Vesta is awake and making demands for media access, but our orders from ISB are to have him and Miss Halifax returned to their families immediately. Governor Halifax has already sent a transport."</p><p>"Ignore any such demands," Vader said. "Have them all returned immediately. I will take my son back to the palace myself."</p><p>"Yes, sir."</p><p>Vader looked around for Luke, and found he was in the middle of a group of laughing teenagers. They became serious as he approached, and, to his surprise, the bothan girl approached him voluntarily.</p><p>"Lord Vader, sir, we just wanted to say … thank you for coming to rescue us."</p><p>"You were amazing!" the boy next to her added. "I finally got to see an actual lightsaber! This was the greatest night of my life!"</p><p>"We're sorry we were a handful," the girl continued. "You were a really good sleepover dad."</p><p>Artoo made a chuckling noise, while Vader beckoned to the nearest stormtroopers, who rushed over.</p><p>"Take them away," he said, pointing at the teenagers. "Immediately!"</p><p>They obliged by herding them towards the transport. "Bye Luke," the boy called. "Best sleepover ever! Ben … you're a sharpshooting legend!"</p><p>Ben, meanwhile, was trying to stay with Luke, but a trooper grabbed him by the arm.</p><p>"That one can stay," Vader relented, causing Ben to smile in relief and rush back to Luke's side. He looked at the two boys for a moment, noticing they seemed to have resolved whatever conflict had existed over the whole shooting contest.</p><p>"In the speeder," he said, turning around.</p><p>"Wow," Luke said, when he came up alongside the passenger door. "This speeder is looking pretty beat up!"</p><p>"Indeed," Vader said, shifting into the pilot's seat. "You will no doubt find time to repair it, considering you are grounded for the rest of the year."</p><p>"Come on," Luke said, looking up with pleading blue eyes. "It worked out for the best! You destroyed the Liberators and rescued Sunny. It will keep the PR office happy for weeks! They might even let you back in the Empire Day school pageant. If I hadn't left to go after Ben, you'd still be stuck in endless meetings with ISB."</p><p>"You make a good case," Vader said. "Perhaps I can be convinced to be more lenient. But it will take you some time to seal that tunnel you used to leave the palace."</p><p>"You <em>know</em> about that?" Luke said, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>"It was very useful when I was your age."</p><p>Luke sighed. "Fine."</p><p>"I'll come over and help," Ben said. "Presuming I'm still alive when my father finds out about all this."</p><p>"You may find him more forgiving than I am when he sees your newfound talent for shooting," Vader said, lifting the speeder into the air.</p><p>"Maybe," Ben agreed. "But … tonight was an <em>experience</em>, but I've realized shooting isn't really my thing."</p><p>"Are you more into swords?" Luke asked. "Or perhaps force pikes?"</p><p>"No. I actually think <em>words</em> are more me. But I haven't been using them properly either. I'm going to tell my dad I'd prefer it if we entered a different contest for the family day. There's gotta be something we can do together that we'd both enjoy."</p><p>"Pity they don't have a 'scariest father' contest, or we could enter," Luke said, nudging Vader's arm as he steered the speeder down towards the palace.</p><p>"I will suggest they start a 'most reckless son' category, and then we could win," Vader said.</p><p>Luke rolled his eyes, while Artoo made his chuckling noise.</p><p>When the speeder came into land, Vader noticed a palace assistant waiting by the elevator. No doubt he wanted to pass on a request for a debrief with the ISB commander and head of PR as soon as possible.</p><p>"You boys go immediately to bed. I will return shortly, by which time I will expect to find you asleep. Artoo—ensure my orders are obeyed."</p><p>There was some grumbling from Luke, but Artoo whistled in agreement and then herded them towards the elevators.</p><p>As Luke had predicted, PR was overjoyed with the outcome, and were already planning a week's worth of constant news coverage lauding the Empire's victory. News of Sunny's rescue had already broken, along with pictures of him reuniting with his parents. Of more interest to Vader was whether the droid he had encountered deep underground was one of several leaders of this Liberator droid army, or whether he was the sole instigator of all this terror. If so, he had to admit he had some grudging respect for the now destroyed machine. Operating directly underneath them for weeks now, and unleashing more chaos than a several organised rebellions could hope to do.</p><p>When he finally returned to their personal living space, now more than ready to rest himself, he paused outside Luke's bedroom, listening for any sign of activity. There was only silence, both auditory and through the Force. When he opened the door, he found Luke and Ben had sunk down on the air mattresses at the foot of Luke's bed, still dressed. Artoo made a soft beep, indicating he had everything under control.</p><p>It seemed his night's work was finally done.</p><hr/><p>Luke's muscles felt strangely creaky when he woke the next morning, rubbing his face. Artoo was chirping, and he could hear the door-comm in his ears.</p><p>"Coming," he called, wondering if it was one of the laundry droids. Judging by the sunlight streaming through the blinds, it was a lot closer to midday than it had been when he'd finally fallen asleep.</p><p>But waiting on the other side of the doors was Captain Jarnet, looking far more orderly in his off-duty black uniform.</p><p>"Luke," he said, sounding relieved. "Is Ben all right?"</p><p>"Dad?" Ben called, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "How … where …?"</p><p>Luke stepped back, gesturing for him to come in. "He's fine. We … uh … were just waking up. You heard about last night?"</p><p>"Captain Baryuth filled me in," he said, a hint of parental admonishment entering his tone. "Apparently I owe him a cover shift for having to supervise all of you."</p><p>"Oh, please," Luke said, grinning. "Ben was the best behaved out of everyone when he was in charge. My father handled the real drama."</p><p>"I haven't heard about the real drama," Captain Jarnet said. "But Lord Vader did tell me I should give you both a few hours to sleep in before coming to get you. Something about not getting to bed until well after midnight." He glanced around at the empty popcorn bowls and the gaming controllers and said, "Looks like it was a fun night. Did you hear they found Sunny?"</p><p>"Yeah, I'll let Ben fill you in about that," Luke said, grinning at his friend's anxious expression.</p><p>"I didn't get much sleep myself," Captain Jarnet said, sitting down on the end of the bed. "All I could think about was how terrible it would be if either of you were kidnapped, and I wished I was over here. And—" He reached down to guide Ben up to sit beside him. "I was thinking about how there were some hurt feelings this week and how I should have handled it better. A lot better."</p><p>"It wasn't your fault," Ben said, bowing his head. "I was … working through some things."</p><p>"I miss the days when you used to tell me about <em>the things</em> instead of leaving me to guess," Captain Jarnet said, patting Ben on the back.</p><p>Luke decided this was a good time to go and have a shower and leave father and son to talk it out. His own father would no doubt be wanting to leave for Mustafar, as he always did when he had been forced to attend meetings all week. Hopefully the environment there wouldn't throw off the experiment results.</p><p>When he returned to the main room, he found Captain Jarnet was fully embracing a much-happier Ben, in the way he wished his own father might do occasionally. Ben really had nothing at all to be envious of. His friend's father smiled at the sight of him, and then released Ben, patting him as he stood up.</p><p>"Luke, I hate to do this, but I might have to dump you as my shooting partner for the contest."</p><p>"No problem at all," Luke said, grinning. "So Ben wants to do it?"</p><p>"We worked out a compromise," Ben said, nodding. "I'll be in the shooting contest, as long as he agrees to be in the trivia contest with me."</p><p>"I'll look forward to cheering you on from the sideline," Luke said, a peaceful feeling of relief settling in. It might have taken getting kidnapped by a crazy droid, but things were finally working out.</p><hr/><p>Another week was soon off to a start, and Luke picked up Ben outside his apartment as usual. His friend was carefully holding the experiment samples in a secure box.</p><p>"I just hope the others actually bothered to do the work," Luke said.</p><p>"If not, we can make a good argument for another extension," Ben suggested.</p><p>When they stepped out of the speeder, Luke was surprised to see a younger student standing nearby, clearly waiting for him. It was Parayla, the girl he'd met at the mall and taken up to meet Sunny. She had a slightly dreamy smile on her face that made Luke feel wary. But it was a relief to see her natural blue spots were now back on display.</p><p>"Hi, Parayla," he said. "How are you doing?"</p><p>"I'm fine," she said. "I have a gift for you."</p><p>"For <em>me</em>?"</p><p>She held up another canvas, with the painting facing her. "See, I was watching the HoloNet about Sunny's rescue all weekend, and I realized something. You were right about him. He wasn't worth it."</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>Parayla nodded. "He's so entitled. He did nothing but complain about how long it took to find him. Then someone uploaded a video on our Sunny fan channel showing him shouting abuse at the stormtroopers who rescued him." She shook her head. "Just because they wouldn't give him ionized water! A few people are still defending him, but I can't."</p><p>Luke nodded, trying to hide a smile. He had heard from Robi that various unflattering holo recordings of Sunny's post-rescue behavior had been doing the rounds among the stormtroopers at the palace. It wasn't surprising they were leaking out.</p><p>"But I felt really inspired by someone else," Parayla continued, smirking at him.</p><p>"Someone else?" Luke tried not to look as nervous as he was currently feeling. "Who?"</p><p>Her smile grew wider. "Well … let me just show you ..." She turned the canvas around, revealing an amazingly detailed painting of his father, lightsaber drawn, with a red Imperial flag in the background.</p><p>It took Luke a few long seconds to have any reaction at all. "That's … incredible artwork."</p><p>"Could you give it to him? Just as a thank you gift for saving Sunny. I know he won't be getting any thanks from him."</p><p>Ben grinned. "Of course he will."</p><p>"Uh … yes, I'll do that," Luke said, accepting the canvas. "Thanks, Parayla."</p><p>She smiled again and then walked off, leaving Luke staring at the painting with a mix of awe and dread.</p><p>"I can't give this to him," he said. "He'll want it destroyed. Lev's office receives tons of fan mail from all over the Empire, and there's a standing order to have it all vaporized. He doesn't really do adulation."</p><p>"Maybe you could sell it on the HoloNet," Ben suggested.</p><p>"I can't do that to her artwork! She's put a lot of work into this."</p><p>"Or you could just put it up somewhere in the Imperial Palace where he doesn't go."</p><p>"Hmm." His father didn't go down to the admin floors, so maybe it could go in a hallway there. Although, he wasn't sure what Lev would think about a giant painting of his father watching them all the time.</p><p>Just then, he felt an arm across his shoulders, and found Greein had snuck up behind and grabbed both he and Ben in a half-embrace. "Hey, guys. Get some rest? Oh, stars!" He'd caught sight of the painting then. "Who did that? It's incredible!"</p><p>"A girl from the middle years named Parayla," Luke said.</p><p>"There we go," Ben said. "Greein can have it."</p><p>"Can I?" he said, his eyes shining. "I know just where I can put it, too."</p><p>"I hope she doesn't mind," Luke said, passing it to Greein. "Just hide it, will ya? She wanted it to go to my father, but he'll destroy it."</p><p>"It will never be as appreciated by anyone as much as it will by me," Greein said.</p><p>"Did you do the experiments?" Ben asked.</p><p>He shrugged. "I figured we'd get an extension after the crazy weekend we had!"</p><p>Luke could only shake his head.</p><p>Fortunately, Ms Triseeta was so relieved to see Ophelia was safe, she not only said it was more than okay they hadn't completed all the experiments, but said their project would be graded based on their plans. There was some melancholy in the group once they realized this was the final day they'd be working together.</p><p>"This was fun," Juno said, as she finished her final word on the project's concluding paragraphs. "I'm … uh … glad I didn't swap."</p><p>Ophelia shrugged. "Could have been worse."</p><p>The two girls smiled at each other then, and Ben said, "So … maybe we could partner up again next time?"</p><p>"You can dream," Ophelia said. But her tone was surprisingly warm.</p><p>"If we do, we're definitely working at Luke's place," Greein said.</p><p>"Huh," Luke said. "I don't think I've ever heard the Imperial Palace called 'my place'."</p><p>"That reminds me," Juno said. "Can you apologise to your dad from me? For pretty much everything. And for referring to him as a dad to his … uh, mask. I forgot about what that officer said."</p><p>"I think he'll recover," Luke said. "I'll give him a few days of peace and quiet, at least. He's earned it."</p><hr/><p>Giving his father peace and quiet was a lot easier when there was enough going on at the Imperial Palace to make him forget he was grounded. Luke was soon busy helping the various teams prepare for the Palace Staff Family Day, including decorating the security office and setting up the royal guard gym for the various athletic contests.</p><p>The staff families and friends began to arrive at 10am on the first day of the weekend, and Luke was recruited to help pass out mini Imperial flags to the kids, along with another familiar face. Ben arrived at lunchtime, carrying some bags of takeout at Luke's request.</p><p>"Are you going through another growth spurt?" he asked, as Luke led him into the outdoor courtyard. "Three combos? Really?"</p><p>"It's not all for me," Luke said, smirking. "I invited someone to join us."</p><p>Commander Julius' niece, Tesa, waved to them, and then gestured at the bench beside her.</p><p>"Oh," Ben said, his voice strangely tense.</p><p>"You look less nervous when you see my father," Luke said, nudging him. "Come on. If I can survive Ophelia and Juno wearing my underwear, you can survive this."</p><p>Ben soon did relax, and Luke wandered back inside after a few minutes, giving the two of them a chance to get to know each other a little better. But then a harried Captain Jarnet ran up, looking everywhere.</p><p>"Luke, have you seen Ben? Trivia contest in five minutes." Captain Jarnet's eyes narrowed as he looked past Luke, out to the courtyard. "Why is he talking to Commander Julius' niece?!"</p><p>"Uh … he's just getting some inside info that you'll be able to use against them in the shooting contest," Luke said, smirking. "Wait here. I'll get him."</p><p>He thought perhaps Ben might regret his entry into the trivia contest after this, but Tesa came too, joining Luke in the supporter seats. They started out relaxed and relatively calm compared to some of the other guests, but soon shifted to the edge of their seats as Ben and his father were early leaders, and then went through three final rounds to emerge victorious. They were giving out plushie souvenirs as prizes, and Ben's father chose a cuddly royal guard doll, much to Ben's embarrassment.</p><p>The shooting contest was the final event of the day, and Luke found himself feeling far more anxious than either Ben or his father. Winning the trivia seemed to have taken the pressure off, and they were both looking calm as they stood in the observation line and watched stormtrooper Robi and his girlfriend shoot anywhere but at the actual targets.</p><p>"I was going to say they should have made him take his helmet off, as targeting displays are against the rules," Captain Jarnet said. "But I don't think it's going to make any difference."</p><p>"His girlfriend's better than him," Ben observed. "I wonder what she does for a job."</p><p>"I met her this morning," Luke said. "She grooms people's pets. Maybe they should swap jobs."</p><p>Ben and Captain Jarnet were up next, and they easily looked like seasoned professionals after that. Luke grinned at Robi as he came to join him.</p><p>"Nice one."</p><p>"We were just messing around," he said, reaching out to hold his girlfriend's hand. "It's just a fun contest, right?"</p><p>"Um …" Luke glanced down the line, where Commander Julius and Tesa were waiting for their turn. Despite Tesa's mocking of her aunt taking this too seriously, she was standing with her arms folded and her gaze laser focused on the growing score being wracked up. "Let's just say some contestants are taking this more seriously than others."</p><p>Two minutes later, the chime sounded for the end of the round, and Ben and Captain Jarnet gave each other a high-five as they came off. It was easily the best score both of them had ever done, and it had put them at the top of the leaderboard.</p><p>"Commander, you're up," Lieutenant Hicks said, from his post at the administration desk.</p><p>"Nice try, Captain," Commander Julius said, stepping up to collect her blaster from the armory. "It seems you make a worthy adversary after all. Now. Watch the master."</p><p>Despite his promise not to make this all about winning, Luke could see Captain Jarnet was struggling not to offer some trash talk in response. But Tesa winked at Ben, causing him to smile back and mouth 'good luck'.</p><p>What followed was a masterclass in shooting, with both contestants adopting a relaxed stance as they aimed and hit target after target, wracking up quick wins and more thoughtful choices to boost their score. Luke watched with his hands gripping the safety railing as the total approached, and then exceeded Captain Jarnet and Ben's score, resulting in a round of applause for the end of the set. Ben joined in, holding his hands above his head, but Captain Jarnet's was far more subdued.</p><p>"Another year, another victory over royal guards," Commander Julius said, putting her blaster back in the armory. "This is getting boring." She then came back and draped her arm over Lieutenant Hicks' shoulders. "Are there any royal guard plushies left? I wouldn't mind one to use as a stress toy."</p><p>"There's another pair of contestants still to go," Lieutenant Hicks said, looking at the list. "A late sign-up."</p><p>"Who is it?" Commander Julius asked. "They might as well forfeit right now."</p><p>Lieutenant Hicks looked down at the line of observers, and his gaze rested on Luke. "Luke? Looks like you're up."</p><p>"Me?" Luke said, hoisting himself up and over the railing and then walking across the floor to the desk. "I didn't enter. Who's my partner?"</p><p>"I don't know. Black 1? Sounds like a TIE pilot callsign. Maybe it's a joke."</p><p>"Did you say <em>Black 1</em>?" Luke's eyes grew wide.</p><p>"That's what it says."</p><p>"Oh no, please—"</p><p>The doors at the end of the hall slid open with a loud hiss, and everyone fell deadly silent as a familiar silhouette filled the doorway. His cape flared behind him as he strode down the length of the room, coming to a halt beside Luke.</p><p>"Seriously?" Luke said, looking up. "Seriously?! You don't even own a blaster!"</p><p>Lieutenant Hicks hastily stood up and straightened to attention, but his father didn't look at him. He simply stretched out a hand towards the armory, causing two blasters to fly across the room. One of them swerved towards Luke, and he reached up to take it.</p><p>"You know I've forgiven you for the whole throwing away the project thing!" Luke insisted. "You don't have to do this!"</p><p>His father merely gestured for him to join him at the shooting range.</p><p>"All right," Luke said, trying to keep the sigh out of his voice. He looked back at Lieutenant Hicks. "Let's do this."</p><p>The length of the contest shooting programme had seemed long while watching other people do it, but Luke found the time absolutely flew by when doing it side-by-side with his father. His own performance wasn't his best, as he kept looking sideways, amazed that his father even knew how to fire a blaster. He held it one-handed, shooting at targets a micro-second before they'd even appeared, and making use of the various reflective surfaces to take out multiple targets with a single bouncing shot. Just as Luke took out a diving blue target, the chime for the end of the set sounded, and he looked up at the scoreboard. A shower of virtual confetti exploded around his father's score, followed by a flashing 'perfect!' sign, and then his own score merged into it. Between them, they had nearly doubled Commander Julius' score.</p><p>There was no applause. Only expressions of awe and terror. Then Luke met Ben's gaze, and found his friend was grinning like this was the best day of his life. Luke could only smile back.</p><p>Then, his father passed Luke his blaster, and strode back out of the room without a single word.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A thousand Dad Vader hugs to everyone who has been commenting on this for the last seven weeks. I've loved sharing this with you all. Take care wherever in the world you are xx<br/> </p><p>  <b>Fanart</b></p><p>spacedaaadddd did this adorable fanart of Ophelia wearing the shirt :D :</p><p>  <a href="https://spacedaaadddd.tumblr.com/post/627022510736752640/sleepover-dad-chapter-1-kittandchips-star">https://spacedaaadddd.tumblr.com/post/627022510736752640/sleepover-dad-chapter-1-kittandchips-star</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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